The Oncoming Storm
by FernandelDeLaFrance
Summary: After spending five years on his trials to become a Magister Magus, Negi Springfield returns from Mundus Magicus with his title, an ugly scar on the back of his hand, and far too many regrets plaguing his sleep. Desperate for a quiet life, he asks for a job and finds employment as a teacher in Mahora Academy. 'Quiet' is not exactly the word he'd describe his class with, though...
1. Chapter I – The Prodigal Son's Return

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Well, here's another foray into the world of fanfiction for me, this time into the crazily awesome universe of _Mahou Sensei Negima_. This story is a 'For Want Of A Nail Story' – the exact nature of the 'Nail' itself will remain a mystery, at least for the time being. I wouldn't want to spoil anything, now would I? Enjoy!

This one will probably have slower updates than you would usually get from me, but I still exams to study for. I hope you don't mind that updates will take a while. If this story has grabbed your interest, just return at the end of the month – I'll start updating everything once my exams are done.

The 'T' rating is subject to change. I only put this story in that category because it fit. However, consider my usual writing style, I wouldn't be surprised if this one got bumped up to 'M'. Let's see what happens. Actually, if you think the rating is inappropriate for future chapters, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?

Oh yes, and there will be future crossover elements. You should know that I like crossovers. A lot. Just so you are aware. To be forewarned is to be forearmed!

Please, enjoy yourself while reading this story, and if you liked or disliked it, be kind enough to leave a review. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

...

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter I – The Prodigal Son's Return**

...

The Wales Academy of Magic was one of the most prestigious schools in the Western magical arts. Lecturers from both the Old World and the Magical World would fight for the opportunity to teach classes and give lectures here, and those who were chosen as instructors, temporary or permanent, were renowned in the hidden world of mages for their intelligence and skill.

The position of the headmaster of that academy has to be considered from that perspective. As the university's guiding light, he was representative of the elders that taught the next generation of magically gifted individuals. It was no surprise that the headmaster was a tall man with a large white beard that just screamed 'venerable wisdom'. It was as much a fashion choice as it was dictated by the expectations of the students and visitors.

_Funny, though_, the old man thought as he sat down at his desk. Everybody nowadays expected elder wizards to have ridiculously long beards. No one took you seriously if you didn't have one. It was part of the image. And appearances were especially important if you were in charge of a school.

The old man grumbled in annoyance as he saw his in-tray filled with a huge stack of paperwork, documents to sign, and memos from the various departments of the school. He understood the importance of paperwork – he was old enough to remember it being introduced en masse, for God's sake! But sometimes, he couldn't help but think that people just wrote memos and the like to actually avoid making decisions of their own.

He sighed as he sat down at his desk. Donnet McGuiness, his ever-faithful secretary and assistant, simply gave him a sympathetic smile. "I hope you don't mind the extra work; there have been quite a few new students this year."

"Dear me, I would never dream of complaining," the venerable old man chuckled, his voice quivering with suppressed amusement. "Why should I complain when my entire job consists of simply signing my name at the bottom of a page? I'm not getting any younger, so this is just the right task for a doddering old codger like me."

Donnet smiled mischievously. "So you muttering in your sleep about 'burn it all, burn it all to ashes' is nothing but your overactive imagination?"

"Er..." A large sweat drop formed on the headmaster's forehead. "Of course! What else would it be?" He started laughing, a bit too loudly to be considered entirely sane.

"My, my," Donnet giggled, hiding her mouth behind a raised hand. "Headmaster, it's not good for repress negative feelings, you know," she chided. "I've heard psychologists say that it makes your mental health suffer."

"Well, personally I wouldn't be very sorry if I never had to set my name on a piece of paper ever again," the bearded elder muttered under his breath, which only amused his secretary even more. "It's a never-ending chore, unchallenging to boot. I do nothing else every day. Don't you understand how mind-numbingly _boring_ this is?" He rested his tired forehead on a wrinkled palm. "This day is going to be just as tedious as the others; I'm sure of it."

"Perhaps..." Donnet looked past his shoulder through the large window that made up the back of the headmaster's office. And then her smile returned, wider than ever. "And sometimes, interesting things happen on the days that start out as the most boring ones."

The headmaster looked over his shoulder, his sharp gaze peering through the window leading onto the grounds of the academy. It was a beautiful sunny day outside (unusual, considering this was _Great Britain_, the land of rain and clouds), and the view onto the green hills of the surrounding countryside was clear.

So the headmaster had no trouble spotting the tall figure in a long white cloak walking towards the entrance of the school, his face obscured by a hood and carrying a large hiking backpack. In his hand was a staff wrapped in large swathes of bandages – a staff with a _very_ familiar design, the headmaster noted.

For a moment, the headmaster thought that a different man was walking along that path; someone who had disappeared many years ago from the face of the earth, both the real and the magical one. But this new arrival wasn't as tall yet; his movements were both very similar and yet distinctly different.

_Well, if it isn't the prodigal son returning_, the headmaster thought. "You're right. This _is_ going to be an interesting day," he said quietly to his secretary, his eyes never leaving the approaching figure.

...

"Negi Springfield," the headmaster said warmly, rising from the seat at his desk to greet the young man that had entered his office. "It's good to see you again."

"Headmaster," the teenager bowed with a smile before politely shaking the older man's offered hand. "It's been far too long."

"Five years, to be exact," the elder wizard chuckled before looking the teenager in front of him up and down. "My goodness! The last time I saw you, you were only ten, Negi! Nothing but a little shrimp of a boy! And now you've grown so tall! A real man indeed!"

"Old man, you sound just like a stereotypical uncle at a family reunion," a voice cheerfully informed him. "Don't you find that kinda embarrassing?"

The headmaster blinked a few times. "Apparently, I have become senile while you were gone, Negi," he said casually. "I'm starting to hear disembodied voices."

"Disembodied my ass!" the voice said amusedly. "I'm up here, mate!"

"Chamo!" Negi hissed. "Be quiet!"

It was then that the headmaster spotted the white-furred ermine sitting on Negi's shoulder, waving at him with an unlit cigarette and sporting a wide grin. "Albert Chamomile? Is that you?"

"That's right, old man; the Chamo is back to the old homestead!" the little rodent said dramatically. "And I'm not exactly surprised by you getting a bit airy in the head region up there, considering you're getting on in years."

"Oh, be quiet, you old rogue," the headmaster grumbled good-naturedly. "Getting old might have a few drawbacks, but at least I can make younger people feel completely awkward just by reminding them of how small and clumsy they used to be." He winked at his former student, who was absolutely mortified. "I'm right, aren't I?"

The teenager shrugged sheepishly as he let his backpack slide to the floor and took off his travelling robe, Chamo running down his arm to get to the ash tray on the headmaster's desk. He unclasped a long rapier from his side, setting the sheathed weapon against the headmaster's desk. The old wizard noticed the battered basket hilt. Once beautifully decorated, the silvered metal was now dented and scratched, as if some creature had decided to sharpen its claws on it.

Briefly, the headmaster wondered what could have possibly done such damage, but he decided to ignore it when his former student sat down in one of the armchairs facing his desk. "Well, I wouldn't exactly know about getting older," Negi said, a smile on his face as he made himself comfortable, "but nevertheless, I'm very glad to be back at the academy."

"A joyous occasion, definitely," the headmaster agreed as he sat back down at his desk with a grunt. He smiled at his guest. "Tea for the two of us? I seem to recall you liked yours black with milk, no?"

"Thank you; that would be very much appreciated."

"As polite as ever," the old man chuckled. "Anything for you as well, Albert?"

The ermine looked up excitedly. "Do you have beer?"

"Not for rude nicotine-addicted rodents, no."

"Speciecist," Chamo muttered. He waved gratefully at Donnet, who had held a lighter in front of him for the cigarette in his paw. "Thanks, sweetheart!"

At a dismissive wave of the headmaster's hand, the secretary disappeared with a smile, leaving the three of them alone. For a moment, teacher and student sat in silence, each studying the other.

"So, how was your trial to become a magister magus? Eventful, I suppose?"

Negi suppressed a grimace. "Very tiring, sir. Peacekeeping isn't exactly an easy job."

The headmaster laughed out loud. "I remember when your graduation diploma decided that you should spend your magus trial in the squadrons, of all things! And starting in the magical world of all places! Not exactly the easiest of quests, was it?"

"Nekane-chan fainted," Negi muttered, a corner of his mouth crooking up despite himself. "And Anya wasn't exactly pleased either."

"Tried to drag you off to London, if I remember this right," Chamo chimed in.

"Anya? Ah, yes, Miss Cocolova!" The headmaster stroked his beard serenely. "That little lady has been asking me about you nearly every month you were gone, Negi. Actually, it became kind of annoying after a while."

"Really?" Negi said, already brightening up. "That's nice of her!"

"Is that so?" The headmaster threw an amused grin at Negi. "If I recall correctly, she called you a '_stupid kid that'll get himself killed spacing out as usual'_, or something along those lines." He chuckled as Negi's shoulders slumped in comical despair. "Well, at least she cares about you."

"One small comfort," Negi muttered to himself, smiling charmingly as Donnet returned with a tray and handed him a cup of steaming tea. "Thank you, Miss."

The headmaster accepted his cup with a smiling nod and took the chance to observe his new guest. Tall, red-haired, a pince-nez perched on his nose and wearing a waistcoat and rather formal-looking travelling clothes, his long overcoat and travelling cloak hung next to the door. The old-fashioned glasses looked rather odd on someone as young as him, but he still wore them with an air of quiet dignity. He had grown taller in the years he'd left, his shoulders had broadened, and his face had lost most of its boyishness that most would have labeled 'cute'. Still, the young man seemed completely at ease with himself.

How old was he now? the headmaster wondered. He'd left about five years ago on his assignment to graduate as a magister magus. So, about fifteen years old now, right? A shame that he couldn't remember exactly. Perhaps he really was getting a bit forgetful in his old age...

Negi breathed on his hot tea, seemingly lost in thought. "Headmaster," he began hesitantly, "I've been discharged from my duties at the Magical Association in Mundus Magicus."

The old man raised an eyebrow? "Really, now? And why is that?"

"They said that I had served long enough as a peacekeeper to fulfil the requirements to be a Magister Magi," Negi explained with a sheepish smile.

"So you were awarded the title?"

"Damn right he was! Big fancy ceremony and everything! You should have seen the cute chicks that were trying to get a piece of aniki here after he recited the oath!" Chamo piped up, leering with a perverted grin. "It was _glorious_."

The old man beamed, ignoring the rodent. "Congratulations, young man!"

Negi gave him a small smile, one that didn't look particularly pleased, yet accepting the honest compliment anyway. "Thank you, sir."

"You're following in your father's footsteps already, aren't you?" The headmaster smiled benevolently. He watched as Negi said nothing, sipping his tea without a word. "I'm sure he would have been proud of you," he added after a moment, his voice far quieter than before.

"Perhaps," Negi said neutrally as he set his cup down on its saucer. "I learned a lot about him from a few people I met in Mundus Magicus. I have proof he's still alive, at least, even if I haven't found him."

_Yet_. The unspoken word hung in the air.

The headmaster chuckled. "If the Thousand Master doesn't want to be found, then he won't be found! It's that simple. He was stubborn like that." The old man laughed aloud, a gravelly sound that echoed around the room. "He didn't change his attitude even after I threw him out of the academy for failing his exams three times in a row! The man was stubborn as a mule, I tell you!"

"Some people would call it determination," Negi interjected, though he had to suppress a grin himself. The headmaster's description of his father was spot on from what his son knew of him.

"And those people would be right," the headmaster agreed jovially. "Determination is something we could all learn from him. Fighting against insurmountable odds for what you believe to be the rightful thing, or to protect those we care about? Well, that is something that many of us could appreciate.

"Now, something else I'm rather interested in." He suddenly leant forward, his grin widening. "Have you found a partner yet?"

Negi frowned. "Partner?" He went beet red as he realized the implication of the headmaster's none-too innocent question. "No! I haven't!" he said loudly. The secretary, who had reappeared to fill up the tea cups, just giggled at his expression. Apparently, she had been listening in. Negi threw her a betrayed look.

"Tsk, a mage without a partner? How unusual," the headmaster thought aloud, amused by his guest's embarrassment. "Five years of travelling, and you were never able to find a partner?"

"I didn't need one!" Negi said, trying to remain calm and dignified and failing spectacularly.

"My, my, our young man has high standards when he's looking for a woman, doesn't he?" the headmaster addressed Chamo with a wry smile.

"Exacting to a fault, that's him," Chamo agreed, chuckling.

Negi palmed his face with both hands, trying to hide his flushed face as best as he could, to no avail. "You're mocking me, sir."

"Like I said, embarrassing the youth of today is the privilege of its elders. Ah, to be young again..." The headmaster's genial expression became grave again. "But in all seriousness, Negi, why didn't you take someone as your ministra? A mage travelling and working as a peacekeeper – that can't exactly have been safe."

Negi straightened himself in his seat now that the headmaster seemed to have gotten out of his 'I-like-making-younger-people-feel-awkward' attitude and tried to compose himself. He rubbed the back of his scarred hand absent-mindedly.

"Well, I didn't want to let anyone get hurt," Negi explained slowly, choosing his words carefully. "And I didn't really need a ministra magus because I was travelling with a group of other peacekeepers. We worked well together, so I never needed to make a contract to protect myself." He shrugged and smiled faintly. "Doesn't mean it wasn't difficult, though, but I managed to pull through somehow."

He picked up his tea cup again, and the headmaster noticed that there was a jagged scar on the back of Negi's hand, running down his wrist from his knuckles and disappearing into the long sleeve of his shirt. "Apparently not everything went smoothly during your trials to become a magister," the headmaster noted, nodding towards the ugly remnant of that injury.

Negi glanced at the hand holding his cup and laughed sheepishly. "It's rather funny; 'peacekeeping' involves far more violence than I ever thought it would. But it's fine; I barely feel that particular scar anymore."

_Liar_, the headmaster thought kindly as Negi idly flexed his fingers. _That injury must have been terrible if you couldn't heal it with magic. No wonder you keep rubbing it; it must have been horribly painful._

The atmosphere in the room was far heavier than it should be – after all, the youngest graduate of the university had returned! The headmaster clapped his hands together, a benign smile forming on his face. "So, Negi, what can I do for you?"

The boy looked up, surprised. "I beg your pardon, sir?"

"NEGI SPRINGFIELD!" the headmaster thundered, startling Negi witless and nearly spilling his tea. Chamo jumped as well, scattering ash all over the desk. "You may be a fully-fledged magister magus now, but I was still the one who watched over you when you grew up and studied at this academy! And don't forget that I've been a teacher for over seventy years! There's nothing a student can hide from me, and it's obvious that something's bothering you! Spit it out, young man; I don't have all day!"

_I'm enjoying this far more than I should,_ the headmaster thought, trying to hide a grin as a completely flustered Negi adjusted his glasses. _This is fun. _

"Fine, sir," Negi said with a weak smile. "I'm looking for work, and I thought that you would the best person to talk to."

"Work?" The headmaster raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were a magister magus now? Don't you want to help people travelling around the world now?"

"Well, I was officially recognized as one, true," Negi admitted, "but I'm rather tired of travelling around Mundus Magicus after five years, so I thought I'd ask you for a steady job on the other side of the gate. I can still help people by staying in one place, right, sir?"

"Unusual, definitely, but many mages take up fixed positions at universities or hospitals and the like. After all, medical and magical research is easier when you're not prancing around the countryside in some remote third-world country." He opened a drawer and started rummaging. "Hmm... Let me see if I have anything for you. Aha, there it is!" The old teacher held up a letter triumphantly, quickly unfolding the message. "An old friend of mine is looking for a teacher at his school. Does that interest you?"

"A teacher for magic?" Negi asked, puzzled.

The headmaster snorted. "Not for magic, my boy; for English! That should be child's play for you, pardon the pun."

"Very funny, sir," Negi said drily, "even though I don't think I qualify as a child anymore."

"Some may disagree, young man, your emancipation notwithstanding." His eyes flew over Konoemon's letter. "It's a middle school, if I remember right. The headmaster is an old friend of mine."

"So it's true," Chamo muttered under his breath, "all _old_ people really do know each other."

"What was that, Albert?"

"Nothing!" Negi said with a charming smile as he quickly clamped a hand over his familiar's mouth before the rodent could say anything. "An English teacher, then? That sounds doable."

"It's a school in Japan, though."

"Er... For the record, I _do_ speak Japanese, sir."

"Really? Where did you learn it, young man?"

Negi thought for a moment, ignoring the struggling Chamo in his hand and looking rather uncomfortable. " Er, a friend I was very fond of taught me. To be fair, though, I'm not so sure about being fluent, she mostly taught me kanji... Say, when does the school year start in Japan, sir?"

"In a month, I think. Why do you ask?"

"I'll be able to teach a class in Japanese and English by then," Negi said, sure of himself.

"Learning to speak a new language in four weeks? Aren't we a little overconfident, sonny boy?"

"Aniki's smart, old man," Chamo said, having managed to wrestle himself free from Negi's grip with surprising strength. "Underestimating him is usually a bad idea, you know?"

"Confident little brat," the headmaster said, amused. "All right, I'll arrange everything for your move to Japan in a few weeks."

"Thank you, sir," Negi said, a relieved smile on his face.

"Another thing, though, Albert," the headmaster added with a wry grin. "I think you're going to like this last part about the school you're going to."

"Wazzat?" the ermine mumbled, chewing on a new cigarette he had apparently gotten out of nowhere – the old one had been squashed when Negi grabbed him.

"It's an all-girls school."

For a moment, Chamo just stared at the headmaster in shock. Immediately afterwards, he jumped up and whooped, doing a little victory dance on the top of the desk. "All right! _Hot damn girlies_, here I come!"

Negi watched on, flabbergasted, as the ermine did something that looked suspiciously like the moonwalk on the headmaster's desk. He threw a disapproving look at the man himself. "I'll blame you for whatever happens, sir."

The old headmaster just leaned and smiled benevolently as he watched their antics, stroking his long white beard.

_Well, perhaps the two of them haven't changed that much after all. _

_...  
_

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?_ was released by studio Shaft, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

Again, please support the official release, and be kind enough to leave a review.


	2. Chapter II – The Arrival

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Welcome, Ladies and gentlemen, to the second chapter of _The Oncoming Storm_. Thank you very much for your kind reviews; I enjoyed reading your feedback and answering your questions. Knowing that people enjoy my work makes me feel very happy.

Now that my exams are over, I will return to updating this story and my other ones I've written. If you're interested, take a look at _Miserly Old Man, Trickster Fox_ and _On The Wings Of An Eagle_. The writing style is similar – if you like this story, you'll probably enjoy those too.

Feedback and questions are welcome. Tell me what you think.

Only a small chapter, but it's early days. Longer chapters will follow. I hope you like it.

Please, enjoy yourself while reading this story, and if you liked or disliked it, be kind enough to leave a review. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

...

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter II – The Arrival**

...

_So many people_, Negi thought, looking around him in amazement as he boarded the train to Mahora. _So this is Japan, huh?_

When the headmaster had cheerfully informed him that his friend's school was an all-girls school, Negi had obviously assumed that it would be a small boarding school; probably one with a focus on religious education (he had quickly shut up Chamo, who had started giggling in a _very_ perverted and disquieting manner when he mentioned this – something about "Catholic school girls"), but the headmaster had quickly corrected them.

Mahora Academy wasn't some small private school. It was the size of a _city_, with its own housing, railway services, and even a small airport. Apparently, there were at least _fourteen thousand_ students enrolled in the secondary school alone, and that wasn't including the pre-schools, high-schools, and the universities with their various research departments. And there were thousands of other people who had decided to settle down here for a variety of other reasons, sometimes accompanying their children, sometimes to work on various projects with the professors and teachers, others to join the burgeoning service industry, and so many other reasons that it would be impossible to name them all.

With those few numbers he knew about Mahora running in his head, Negi looked out of the window, stunned by the beauty of what he was seeing. European architecture, parks, a pristine lake with an island set in its middle... He had expected a built-up concrete jungle full of millions of teeming masses wading through the smog, not a beautiful city under the blue sky like this!

But this was a pleasant surprise, at least. What a rare occasion.

It may not have been as mesmerizing as the floating ruins of Ostia or as homely as the village he grew up in, but for some reason, Negi already liked it here.

Well, except that the train was crowded near full to bursting – not exactly comfortable if you carried all your belongings (including a two-meter wooden staff and a hiking backpack taller than yourself) around with you. Thank goodness for that recent growth spurt, otherwise he'd have even less strength to lug his bags along with him on his travels.

_Hey, aniki; check it out_, Chamo's voice entered his mind, the telepathic voice sounding distinctly amused. _You're getting a lot of attention here, and not the unwelcome kind._

Negi looked away from the window absent-mindedly to see what his constant companion meant, only to see several girls his age unashamedly staring at him and whispering among themselves with smiles on their faces. And they were all _very_ pretty – obviously the thing that had caught perverted Chamo's attention, Negi belatedly realized.

"_What's a foreigner doing here?_" one whispered quietly to her friend.

"_How would I know? Where do you think he's from?_"

"_If you're so interested, why don't you ask him?_" another giggled.

"_No way, you do it!_" the girl laughed, waving her friend off. "_I bet he doesn't even speak Japanese, and your English is way better than mine!_"

"My Japanese may be a bit off, but my ears are working perfectly fine, thank you very much," Negi said to the group at large in lightly accented Japanese, an amused smile on his face.

The girls shrank back collectively, stunned. "Whaaat! He speaks Japanese!"

"I can _still_ hear you, you know," Negi said politely in the same language, trying to bow in the traditional manner he had practiced in the weeks before. It failed miserably, first because the large backpack and the long wrapped packages he was carrying made any sort of movement difficult, and second because he was squeezed in between several people. Japan was _really_ crowded – even during the rush hours in the London Underground, he'd never felt like a sardine. He smiled pleasantly. "Pleased to meet you."

"Woah, he really _does_ speak Japanese! That's so awesome!" one girl exclaimed, and within seconds, Negi found himself surrounded by a gaggle of enthusiastic middle school students bombarding him with questions.

The girls seemed thrilled to meet a foreigner that could speak their language – not surprising, really, considering that Japan was an isolated island nation where most tourists didn't bother learning the complicated Japanese language and script beyond a few stock phrases out of a guidebook. Or, even worse, Western anime fans randomly spouting garbled phrases from their favourite series.

_Smooth, aniki_, Chamo said approvingly through his telepathic link_. You're barely a few minutes in the country, and you're already surrounded by a bunch of cute girls. Truly, you never cease to amaze me. _

_Sometimes, I wonder whether forming a telepathic link with you was a good decision_, Negi sent back while trying to politely answer several questions and listen to rapid Japanese babbling at the same time, which was far more difficult than it sounded.

_Hey, it made sense at the time. And besides, I can offer you free dating advice without anyone noticing. Pretty cool, huh?_

_I should have gone with my first instinct and turned you into an ermine cape_, Negi shot back_. That would have spared me quite a few headaches along the road later. _

_That's harsh, aniki, but I know you'd never do something like that. _

_Hey, I wonder if an ermine cape would be a good present on a date, since you're so proud of always trying to hook me up with someone of the opposite gender. _

_Very funny, aniki_, Chamo laughed. Negi didn't answer. _Er... You'd never do something like that, right, bro?_

One of the girls asked him a question, Negi missing it thanks to the intrusive partner's voice in his head. He smiled – he found that it usually helped when people couldn't understand each other easily. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said, do you know where do you have to go?" the girl chimed up, smiling back. "I mean, you're going to middle school, right?"

"Yes, middle school at Mahora Academy," he confirmed.

"Well... Sorry to break it to you, but you missed your stop. The boys' school was the stop before this one." For some reason, the girls seemed both amused and a bit ashamed. "Not that I really mind that you missed it, though, otherwise you probably wouldn't have talked to us."

"I have to meet with Headmaster Konoemon first, so I guess I'll get off at the same stop as you," Negi said thoughtfully. "And it's not as if I really mind talking to you, miss," he added with a pleasant smile.

The girls giggled and blushed, whispering among themselves in a rapid-fire dialect of Japanese he only understood bits and pieces of. To a teenage genius fluent in several languages who could usually communicate easily, it was kind of frustrating not to understand what they were talking about. Well, he couldn't really blame himself – he'd only learnt Japanese in the last three weeks, after all. The little tuition before that had been in writing symbols, not speaking.

"_Next stop: Mahora Academy, Middle School, All-girls section. Please exit to the left side of the vehicle, and mind the gap. Thank you for travelling with JapanRail,_" the intercom garbled.

"That's our exit!" one girl said, grinning at Negi as the train stopped. "Perhaps we'll see you around, right? Later!"

"Come on, we're gonna be late!" one of her friends called to her, and the group started running out the train doors before they had even fully opened.

_What the..._ Negi glanced at his watch and nearly had a heart attack. _Oh, bloody hell_. He started running in the same direction as the girls as fast as he could, figuring that following the crowd would be the fastest and easiest way to get to the right building.

_Being late on your first day of work is not an impression you want to make, right, aniki? _Chamo chortled.

Sometimes, Negi really wished that the little voice in his head was the first sign of madness instead of the voice of his wiseass familiar. It would make things so much easier.

As he sprinted along the road at high speed with the crowd of students frantic to get to class, he spotted two girls loudly arguing with each other about fortune-telling and... Something about a teacher called...

'_Takahata-sensei_'?

These girls knew Takamichi? Perhaps they'd tell him where he could find him...

...

_Smooth, aniki. Really smooth. _

_Please, do me a favour and shut up already. _

_I mean, really,_ the ermine continued, deliberately ignoring his master's annoyed tone,_ trying to talk to a girl to find Takamichi, okay, that's a completely logical thing to do. But to go up to her and tell her that she's going to be unlucky in love_? Chamo chortled. _Not as clever._

_I was _trying_ to enter the conversation. _

_And failing spectacularly, I might add. _

_That's it; I'm buying you a travelling cage, _Negi decided with grim finality_. You're getting on my nerves. _

_Aniki, that's just cruelty to animals_... the ermine whined telepathically.

_Just be quiet now, all right?_ Negi hissed back. _I _really_ have more important things to worry about right now! _

He was standing in something approaching parade rest in front of dean Konoemon's desk (the ermine sitting on his shoulder), who was just looking over a thick file of paper. The reason why Negi was so incredibly nervous right now and had to fight against the urge to fidget was because the headmaster was reading his résumé, and he honestly had no idea whether it was going to be acceptable for his new job. I mean, who had ever heard of a fifteen-year-old becoming a teacher?

"Well, well, Negi-kun," Konoemon said heartily as he put the file down and smiled at Negi, "let me say that I am most impressed with your qualifications! You graduated the Meridiana Academy in Wales as valedictorian five years ago?"

Negi allowed himself to smile. "That's correct, sir."

"What? No way did this brat already graduate university," another voice scoffed. "I'm surprised he can lie with such a straight face."

"Asuna-san, be nice," her companion chided, a pretty girl with long black hair and a friendly expression.

"The hell I will! Konoka, didn't you hear what that jerk said to me? He said that I'd be unlucky in love! How rude can you get? Seriously!"

Negi just palmed his face and turned to face the irate redhead that who had accompanied him to the principal's office. After slugging him in the face, which certainly didn't endear her to him in any way. He bowed as best as he could. "I apologize if you found my comment to be rude or insensitive, miss," he said politely, looking her straight in the eye. "Fortune-telling is something... of a hobby of mine, and I often forget that people can react negatively when some predictions are made."

The girl just glared at him. "Oh, fortune-telling is a 'hobby' of yours? Do you like to annoy other people with predictions or something?"

"That was not my intention," Negi said calmly and smiled. For once, it was an awkward, sincere smile; an honest one. "I never meant to offend you, miss. Please, I hope you will accept my apology."

Asuna huffed and looked away. "Like I care whether you apologize or not. You were still rude." She muttered under her breath. "And you made me look stupid in front of Takahata-sensei too..."

_Well, you punching me in the face was _really_ not my fault, you know_, Negi neglected to add. _And neither was Takamichi coming to my rescue to stop you from strangling me with my own scarf._

"Asuna-san, I expect you to be more respectful with guests to our illustrious academy," the headmaster finally intervened, frowning at the two of them. "And there is really no need to call him a liar – Negi-kun here really has graduated from a rather prestigious university in the United Kingdom. I expect you to apologize for that remark."

"Headmaster, do I really have to?" the girl exploded. "I mean, he's just an immature brat! He's-"

"Asuna-san!" the principal said sternly. The girl's mouth immediately snapped shut. "Negi-kun is now a teacher at Mahora Academy, and I expect you to treat him with the respect you would give any other member of my staff. Your stubborn behaviour will not do."

Asuna, if that was her name, clenched her teeth angrily. "Fine, I get it," she grumbled unhappily. She made a quick bow to Negi, the bells in her hair tingling. "I apologize for my rudeness just before; it won't happen again."

_Well, that sounded rather insincere_, Chamo noted.

The girl straightened and looked at Negi sceptically. "But did you really graduate from university five years ago? You don't look much older than me."

"Top of the class, no less," the bald old man added with a smile and a mischievous wink. "The youngest graduate at ten years old."

"Really?" Konoka asked excitedly. "That's so cool!"

"Well, not really..." Negi mumbled awkwardly. One of the things that he'd never learnt to cope with was attention from other people. Praise and adoration even less.

"Konoka-chan, Asuna-san, do you mind going back to your classes now?" the principal interrupted. "Thank you for helping Negi-kun get to my office; we both appreciate it."

The two girls quickly filed out after muttering their goodbyes, Asuna still visibly fuming and Konoha giving both Negi and the principal a cheerful wave. Negi tried to wave back with all the dignity an English gentleman could muster. For some reason, though, jauntily waving didn't go well together with British stuffiness. It just seemed... weird.

"Negi-kun, let's continue with the interview without noisy interruptions, shall we?" the principal addressed him, smiling genially. "After graduating, you were sent to complete your education in various other countries, I take it?"

"Yes, sir." Negi snapped back to attention. "Some of my travels took me around South-East Asia, some to Africa and Eurasia, but I spent most of my time back in the home country." He hoped that the headmaster would catch the thinly-veiled reference to Mundus Magicus. He seemed like a shrewd old man, even if he seemed a bit eccentric, his choice of garb and earrings not helping the strange impression he made.

"I see, I see... You served with the peacekeepers, I take it?"

Why was he bringing _that_ up? Negi hesitated, but decided that honesty was the best policy. If the old man was as clever as his reputation, then he would find out sooner or later anyway. "Yes, sir. HMS _Aequitas_, Third Squadron of the Triple A Peacekeeper Fleet."

"The _Aequitas_, you say?" One of the principal's eyes opened wide in gleeful surprise. "Is old Hornblower still the captain of that old tub?"

"Not... exactly, sir," Negi said, grimacing unhappily. "The Third Squadron was disbanded a few months ago by the Senate of Megalomesembria when the peacekeepers were reorganized. The _Aequitas_ was scrapped and its crew split up. I got an honourable discharge and my title of magister magus–"

"–and now you're here, looking for a job," the principal completed, an understanding smile on his face. "Well, my dear boy, I think that you're more than qualified with that little résumé of yours! Certified genius, university graduate with a degree, _summa cum laude_, retired peacekeeper with the rank of lieutenant, and I heard that you even rejected a few offers to become a researcher or professor at a few of the top universities for the arcane arts in Mundus Magicus! You're more than welcome here at our humble country school, but I honestly think that you simply teaching English may be a waste of your potential."

"Sir, there is no such waste as teaching the next generation," Negi retorted, frowning.

The principal pounded his fist onto his desk, a grin on his face. "And right you are, Negi-sensei! I wouldn't have expected anything less from the son of the Thousand Master!" He paused. "Although it is strange to hear you say that, considering that you're part of the same generation. Rather odd, really."

As the principal rattled on about his new duties and responsibilities, Negi repeated his new title several times in the confines of his own mind. some reason, he really liked the sound of that.

Negi_-sensei._

He smiled. Yes, that sounded just right.

...

Negi's happiness about getting a job only lasted until he found exactly what class he was going to teach. "I'm the homeroom teacher for Asuna-san's class," he said flatly.

"That's right, Negi-sensei," Shizuna Minamoto said pleasantly as the two of them walked along the brightly lit corridors of the school, the sunlight shining through the large windows. The nice weather was the last thing on Negi's mind, though.

"And I even have to room with her," Negi groused. "I wonder if the principal is trying to get me killed on the job early. Or perhaps it's some sort of trial of fire..."

"Now, now, Negi-sensei, don't be so harsh," Shizuna interrupted him politely, although her eyes danced with repressed amusement. "Asuna-san is really a nice person."

"Pardon me if I don't share that impression. She punched me in the face."

"Well, she can get rather emotional at times, that's true," Shizuna laughed quietly, "but I assure you, she's genuinely kind and caring. I'm sure the two just got off the wrong foot, that's all."

_Hmm, I wonder if a woman's capacity for understatement is related to the size of her bust_, Chamo thought, giggling in a perverse way. _That would be an interesting scientific study to conduct; don't you think so, aniki?_

_Do that and I'll really buy that damn cage to lock you up, if only to protect the women around here from finding themselves with no underwear_, Negi warned.

_To be totally honest, aniki, if there are more people like Shizuna-nee-san running around, it would be _totally_ worth the risk. _

Negi sighed. Reining in Chamo was going to be difficult, especially if they were living in a place like the girls' dorms. What the ermine referred to as a 'target-rich environment' usually translated to a disaster for Negi. After all, he was supposed to control his familiar. Negi stole a glance at the figure of Shizuna-sensei walking next to him, and her nearly-impossible-to-miss chest.

Yes, he could already tell that Chamo and her being in close proximity wasn't going to turn out very well. He would swear that the perverted rodent sitting on his shoulder was drooling, for goodness's sake. He wondered where the next pet shop was. A cage might be the only option left to control him.

A moment later, they found themselves in front of the closed classroom door. Negi sighed and adjusted his tie. "Well, I'm off to the lion's den, then."

"Why are you so sarcastic about all this, Negi-sensei?" Shizuna said, disapproval marring her face with a frown. "It seems rather undignified."

"Beats me, Shizuna-sensei," Negi said drily. "Could be puberty and hormonal moodiness, for all I know."

He opened the slide door loudly to catch everyone's attention in the classroom. It worked, but not for the reason he thought it would. The blackboard duster landed on his head, splattering chalk all over his hair and face.

The students, who had been chattering up a storm just a moment ago, now stared at him in stunned silence. Negi calmly started dusting himself off as he walked over to the desk, but apparently someone had decided that his humiliation wouldn't be over, as he tripped over a cord spread over the floor. He stepped backwards just in time to avoid the bucket of water that nearly missed his head. Of course, his suit still got drenched.

Negi said nothing and stepped behind the teacher's pulpit, taking off his wet suit jacket and hanging it over his seat before turning to face the class, who had in that moment of inattention all returned to their seats and were now facing him with various expressions of surprise, apprehension, nervousness, and honest puzzlement. His eyes quickly skimmed over the rest of them. Blond, brunettes, redheads, glasses, no glasses, Caucasian, Asian, dark-skinned, braids, long-flowing hair, pageboys, tall, short, normal, etcetera, everything and everyone was represented. Some of the girls were sitting ramrod straight and perfectly calm, others were already fidgeting as they skittishly watched him. He spotted Asuna sitting at her desk in the middle row, looking at him with something that resembled mixed annoyance, smug loathing, and perhaps even some pity.

Negi sighed. "Well, ladies of class 2-A, believe me when I say that your kind welcome has left me completely lost for words." He wasn't exactly sure if sarcasm carried that well in Japanese, but he would be damned if he didn't at least try.

A tall girl with long flowing blond hair in the front of the class stood up, a rather imperious look on her face. "Excuse me, but we are waiting for our new teacher," she said coldly. "The boys' department middle school is not in this building."

"I'm well aware of that, miss..?"

"Yukihiro Ayaka, class representative of 2-A," she said haughtily. "And who, may I ask, are you?"

"This, young ladies, is your new teacher, Negi Springfield," Shizuna interrupted with a happy smile, clapping her hands together. "Let's all welcome him to Mahora Academy together, all right?"

_Three, two, one_, Negi thought drily.

"WHAAAAAT?"

The outburst of a full classroom of teenage girls could _really_ hurt someone's eardrums, Negi reflected later. Perhaps he could buy earplugs when he was looking for Chamo's cage too.

...

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?_ was released by studio Shaft, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

Again, please support the official release, and be kind enough to leave a review.


	3. Chapter III – Wasn't Supposed To Happen

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Welcome to the chird chapter of _The Oncoming Storm_. To all new readers, welcome, and thank you for having read so far. To all readers that are now returning, thank you very much for showing enough interest to keep reading this newest story of mine. As always, comments and critique are very much welcome.

I have a small announcement. Well, for me, it is anything but small, but here goes: my computer died. Actually _died_. The hard drive is fucked beyond repair, to put it into the most vulgar manner posible. And considering that the warranty already expired, I won't be getting a new one any time soon. The four chapters after this one that I had already written and edited are gone forever. And right now I'm using a friend's laptop with a foreign keyboard and using the last backups in had in my document manager. I curse my own stupidity for not having had any backups.

Luckily, I have handwritten notes and a very good memory, so I know where this story was going plot-wise – I just need to write it all out again. This means that I don't know when the next update is going to be. I'm really sorry about this mess. You have my greatest apologies, and I'll try to get some serious work in soon.

All doom and gloom aside, I hope you like this chapter. All your comments and critique is welcome, no matter whether you liked it or not. Thank you for reading, and please leave your comments in the review section – all opinions welcome. I hope you have as fun reading this story as I had writing it.

...

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter III – That Wasn't Supposed To Happen**

...

"Hello, everyone, my name is Negi Springfield," Negi introduced himself with a smile. "I am going to be your homeroom teacher and English tutor for this year, and, if I am very lucky," or unlucky, he neglected to add after that little prank of theirs, "I will also be your teacher for next year too. I've come over from England, and this is my first time visiting Japan, not to mention living in your beautiful city of Mahora."

He bowed as best as he could. "Please take care of me."

...

_I _said_ all that_, Negi reflected gloomily as he sat on the rim of the fountain in Mahora Academy's park, _and now I'm in trouble. Who'd have thought that trying to be a teacher could be so difficult?_ He laughed to himself as he opened the class register. _Well, there's probably a reason why a lot of kids don't want to become teachers. Certainly doesn't beat being an astronaut, if you ask me. _

The reaction to Miss Minamoto's announcement had been rather amusing, if he was honest with himself. First, the girls had been surprised. In his mind, that was all well and justified – after all, who has ever heard of a fifteen-year-old teaching a class of middle-school students? The idea was completely ludicrous. Negi knew that the expression on his students' faces when he told them that he had graduated university as valedictorian five years ago would give him something to chuckle about for quite a while.

A session of friendly Q&A followed. Negi played along, considering that his students knew nothing of him. It seemed fair, somehow. No need to plunge into the unknown.

'_What part of England do you come from?_'one of the Narutaki twins asked excitedly (were those two really old enough to be in middle school? Good Lord...).

'_I was born in England, but I moved to Wales when I was small_.'

Unsurprisingly, nobody had a clue who or what Wales was. Considering that most English people didn't either (or just didn't plainly care about that part of the country except to crack stupid jokes about molesting sheep), he supposed that was alright, if a bit vexing.

Another student (Sakurako, was it?) raised her hand eagerly. '_Where did you go to school?_'

'_In my home village. It has a rather famous university. I got a scholarship after I moved to Wales from England._'

'_Do you have any siblings?_' one of the other cheerleaders, Madoka, asked excitedly.

He smiled back. The cheerleader's good cheer (oh, what a pun) was truly infectious. '_Only my sister._'

Another hand shot up. "_How did you get that scar on your hand?_" a bespectacled girl wearing a lab coat asked, looking at the back of Negi's hand with undisguised, yet clinical interest. "_I've never seen that kind of scarring before..._"

A deathly silence had fallen over the whole class as people either looked scandalized at the scientist's tactless question and desperately tried to shush her (Negi detachedly noticed that the quiet girl called Ako Izumi threw the girl a particularly venomous look), while the student's less inhibited classmates seemed actually interested in the answer, looking at him expectantly.

For a moment, Negi simply flexed his fingers – Goodness, even so long after that particular incident happened, that thing could still sting like a _bitch_ – and gave the girl (Satomi Hakase, no?) a rather distant smile. "_A rather painful incident, I'm afraid. As to how it happened... well, to be honest, miss, it's none of your business. Next question._"

Akashi Yūna, an athletic girl sporting an ear-to-ear grin and dancing eyes, jumped into the breach to fill the awkward silence that followed. '_Is your hair really naturally red, or do you dye it?_'

The whole class burst out laughing, except for those who started shushing Yūna to stop embarrassing the new teacher. Negi just grinned and waved on. '_Next question, please._'

'_Do you have a girlfriend?_' a bespectacled girl inquired, sporting a rather mischievous smile.

Negi decided to end the questioning right then and there before things got out of hand, to the class's general amusement (or disappointment, considering he never answered that last question). He looked at the picture of the girl who had asked that one, who was looking far more innocent than she really ought to. Haruna Saotome? Now _there_ was someone he'd have to watch out for.

The class itself hadn't been much better. Asuna had thrown things at the back of his head for the rest of the lesson, and then she and the class president had started a brawl that he had to break up. In the middle of the classroom, no less. What happened to the reserved Japanese women he'd heard so many things about? Apparently, none of them had ended up in his class.

After that, the bell rang and the class filed out, chattering and laughing and cheerfully bidding him goodbye. A rowdy bunch, perhaps, but certainly a happy one.

Negi kept looking through the register, looking at the scribbled notes that Takamichi had left behind. There were quick, concise, and absolutely unhelpful.

"'Come to me if she makes trouble'; 'don't move her seat'; 'tea ceremony club'." Negi squinted through his glasses at Takamichi's unreadable handwriting and sighed. "Well, that's not exactly going to get that rabble to listen to me, is it now, old friend?"

He snapped the register close, squinting up into the clear blue sky. The weather really was beautiful here, and the spring sun was shining on his face. He could relax here. It was _nice_. Nothing reminded him of Megalomesembria or Hellas here, or of his little village back in Wales.

Negi stretched himself out on the stone rim of the fountain, closing his eyes and just enjoying the warm sun. For once, he had both the time and the opportunity to be lazy. He ought to make the best of it while he was still able to – he had a feeling that with him teaching that lot, he probably wouldn't have a lot of time to relax in the near future.

He then spotted someone walking down the stairs in the park. He squinted as he tried to spot her against the sunlight. Wasn't that ...Miyazaki Nodoka? If he remembered her name right, but he wasn't too sure about how to pronounce all the different kanji symbols...

He chuckled as he saw her clearly. She was carrying a pile of books taller than she was herself, the stack wobbling dangerously as she took cautious little steps down the stairs, balancing the thick books carefully. For some reason, she looked ridiculously cute doing that.

Negi's amusement changed to alarm as she suddenly lost her balance and started to fall sideways. Even at this distance, he could see her eyes widening as she realized what was happening, books toppling out of her hands and mouth opening in shock. "Eh..."

It took a split second for Negi to calculate the angle of her fall – if she kept falling, she'd break her neck. He didn't even think. His hand snatched up his staff, the bandages tearing off as magical energy coursed through the weathered wood. In a movement born of long practise, its end was pointed towards the falling Nodoka. "_Deceleret_," he whispered, and the air between the girl and the ground condensed into a cushion, stopping the fall that might have easily broken her neck.

He wasn't going to let anyone die on his watch. Not this time.

When he finally caught her in one giant leap, her eyes were clenched tight shut. When she cautiously opened them again, she found herself quietly put down on the ground by her new teacher, who had seemingly caught her in his arms when she fell.

Negi remembered Nodoka. She hadn't dared say a word in class, quietly sitting at her desk, barely looking at him. He had figured she was shy, leaving her be. Negi smiled at her as he started picking up scattered books. "Are you all right, Miyazaki-san? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Um... No, I'm all right," Nodoka said quietly and hesitantly, picking herself up and blushing. "Er... T-Thank you, sensei."

Negi's expression changed rather radically when he spotted Asuna at the other end of the park's clearing, staring at the two of them and pointing with a shaky pointer finger, opening her mouth like a gold fish.

"Oh, bloody hell."

...

The thing that Asuna had wanted to do after class was to go home, change, do some sports and be lazy, like usual. That plan changed radically when she came across the scene – and Negi's really, _really_ weird skill.

_What was that? What in the name of all that is holy was _that_?_

Asuna wanted to immediately run over and start shaking that stupid idiot until he spilled the beans, but he sent a clearly warning look at her when she started storming towards them. Asuna stopped dead in her tracks. Takahata-sensei once had a scary look on him before he beat up a bunch of delinquents. There was a very good reason reason why they called him "Death Glasses".

The look that the Negi brat gave her reminded her far too much of her crush when he was angry or deathly serious. And Takahata-sensei was _terrifying_ when he was angry.

So, as much as she disliked it, she didn't immediately go and beat him senseless until he told her exactly what was going on, but rather decided to follow Nodoka and Negi. The shy librarian girl didn't seem to have noticed anything strange about her rescue, and quietly collected the scattered books with her teacher. She followed as the two of them walked to the clubroom of the Library Exploration Club, Negi trying to politely strike up a conversation with Nodoka about various topics, but she only answered with nods, shakes of her head or simple 'yes' and 'no' phrases. She seemed too shy or embarrassed to say more.

When they arrived at the clubroom, Negi carefully put down the books, smiled kindly at Nodoka as he bid her goodbye and went back to the park. Nodoka looked after him in a rather odd way, but he dismissed it as her just being shaken up after nearly getting injured.

When he left the school building again, Asuna went after him, cracking her knuckles. She was going to have a _serious_ talk with her new homeroom teacher.

Negi left the main school building at a brisk pace, thinking quickly. Of _all_ the people to find out that he was a mage, it had to be the one that disliked him the most. Of course, life decided to be unpleasant that way.

And now the Asuna girl was stalking him. In a rather obvious manner. Negi wasn't entirely sure if she was actively trying to be stealthy about it, but he could spot her easily as she followed him through the park. Subtlety didn't exactly seem to be her strong point, considering that her way of introduction involved getting right into someone's face and punching.

Negi's little theory was proven entirely correct when he returned to collect his things lying around the fountain. He heard footsteps, and soon the redhead stood in front of him, hands on her hips and scowling. "All right, spill it," she ordered. "What the hell did you _do_?"

"Right now, I'm picking up my possessions," Negi said drily as he gathered his staff, coat, backpack and the class register. He frowned at the ripped bandages lying around. "Huh. Guess I'll have to buy new ones."

He found himself grabbed by the collar and lifted up bodily by the girl. "Don't lie to me," she growled. "I saw what you did with Nodoka. Now tell me _what the hell_ you are!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kagurazaka-san," Negi lied with a cheerful smile.

"Bullshit! I saw you stop Nodoka falling and then catch her with one jump when you were over fifty feet away! No normal human can do that! Are you a superhero or something?"

_No, I'm obviously a magical girl in drag. Can't you tell?_ Negi thought, rolling his eyes. His first day as a teacher was really turning out to be troublesome. "All right, I'll tell you if let go of my collar. You're choking me."

Asuna realized that she was holding him off the ground and quickly let go. Negi rubbed his throat gingerly. Where the hell did she get that ungodly strength from? It didn't seem normal. Whatever.

He looked at her, annoyed. "All right, Kagurazaka-san. To be completely truthful, I'm a mage."

"Wait, what? You're a wizard?" she asked, gobsmacked.

"Well, if you want to put it that way, yes, you could call me a wizard." Negi shrugged. "My title is that of a magister magus, though, so I prefer being called a mage, or magus if your prefer."

Asuna just stared at him for a moment, the leapt up in the air with a fist clenched in victory. "I knew it! I knew that there was something weird about you!"

_Why, thank you very much. The odd violent girl herself thinks I'm strange. I feel absolutely honoured. _Negi packed the class register into his backpack and picked up his staff. He scowled at Asuna as he pointed the staff at her. "However, now that you know my secret, I will have to make sure that you don't tell anyone about this."

Asuna stopped her celebration immediately. "Huh?"

"I'm terribly sorry, but these are the rules," Negi said, a rather pained expression on his face. "I dislike doing this, but..."

"WaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitWAIT!" Asuna said quickly, panically trying to edge away as he stepped closer, staff held loosely in one hand and its crooked end pointing at her. "What are you planning to do? Kill me or something!"

"What?" he asked, frowning in a puzzled manner. "No, no! Nothing so drastic, just erasing your memory a little bit," Negi explained, twirling the staff in preparation for the spell. "Might leave you a bit confused for a while, perhaps with an unusual desire to eat some crispy chicken, but you should be fine." Negi frowned as Asuna backed away even faster. "Stop moving around that much, or it might backfire. We don't want that happening, I assure you. "

"H-Hold on just a sec–"

"_Ras tel ma scir magister._ _Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, grant thy power to thy faithful servant_," Negi whispered as he pointed his staff at the panicking middleschooler. "_Erase_!"

"WAI–" A gust of wind blew across the park's clearing for dramatic effect, and Asuna's clothes disappeared, torn into minuscule shreds and leaving her completely naked.

For a moment, Negi and Asuna just stared at each other, stunned into silence.

"Huh," Negi muttered after a moment, ignoring Asuna and examining the crooked end of his staff critically. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Hey, you two," another voice called out genially, "what are you two... doing..."

Asuna and Negi both looked to see Takamichi standing at the other end of the clearing, trying his very best to look away, his face flushed red and scratching his neck. Asuna screamed and fell to her knees in a futile attempt to cover herself.

Negi just looked over at his oldest friend, who was looking the most embarrassed he'd ever seen him in his life. "You know," he said lamely, "I really didn't plan on that happening."

...

Negi prided himself on his intelligence. Not openly, of course, because that would be rude to everyone else around him, but he was proud of the one thing that made him different from everyone else. He wasn't arrogant – or at least he hoped he wasn't – but he thought himself clever enough to learn magic and apply it correctly when he wanted to. There was a reason why he was called a boy genius when he graduated Meridiana University.

So he was justifiably interested in finding out why, for the first time in his life, his memory charm hadn't worked as it was supposed to.

"Look," he said to Asuna as he carried his various travelling bags up to their dorm room, "I really _wasn't_ trying to blow your clothes off! It was an accident, all right?"

"You made my clothes disappear in front of Takahata-sensei!" Asuna wailed. "What kind of perverted magic do you mages use anyway!"

"Will you keep it down, Kagurazaka-san?" Negi hissed, quickly looking left and right along the corridor of the dorm room. Luckily, it was empty now; most students were still out for their club activities.

He put his bags down and faced Asuna, grabbing her shoulders and intentionally stepping far too close for comfort. "Listen to me," he hissed into her ear. "There's a very good reason why magicians aren't allowed to reveal themselves to mundanes, and the punishments for any mage who breaks these rules are severe! You can't talk to anyone about it! Do you understand me?"

Asuna's rebellious attitude flared up immediately. She glared right back at him, refusing to back down. "So? What should I care if you get punished or not? You were the one who wasn't careful, after all!"

"If anyone finds out I'm a mage, I could be _executed_, Kagurazaka-san," Negi said, his reddish-brown eyes boring into her own blue and green ones. "Do you really want that?"

For a brief moment, Asuna considered answering 'yes' just to spite him. After all, he had embarrassed her in front of her crush. Twice, even! First, he'd made her lost her composure in front of Takahata, and then he stripped her! Right in front of him! Even though he said it was an accident... He could go to hell for all she cared!

And yet, he'd been very polite as well. He had immediately offered her his overcoat, shooed Takahata away and quickly got her to a place where she could get changed before anyone else saw her undressed. And he had apologized all the way too.

And right now, he was looking at her, genuinely worried. For the first time, she looked at him clearly – his shoulders were tense, his brow was sweating, and his eyes were both furious and scared. It didn't seem like he was lying about the danger of revealing magic – or the possibility of his execution either.

"Are you serious about you getting executed?" she asked, still sceptical.

He suddenly smiled and chuckled, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "Well, to be honest, I might only be turned into an ermine..."

She looked at him, anger rising. "So all that stuff about you getting executed is just a load of bull?"

"If I was only a trainee mage or student, I'd only get turned into an ermine," Negi elaborated quickly. "But I'm a fully-certified magister magus – the standards applied to us are much higher, so if I screw up really badly, I still might get the chop."

Asuna raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar idiom. "The chop?"

Negi drew his own thumb across his throat, grinning weakly. Asuna gulped audibly. "You English have really weird expressions for dying."

"You'd be surprised. Interesting, really, considering we get as much practice with dying as everyone else."

"Hey, Asunaaaaa!" a happy voice called out. Negi and Asuna turned to face Konoka, who was running towards them through the corridor. "Oh, dear," she giggled, "what are you two up to?"

"What d'you mean?" Asuna asked, puzzled.

It was at that exact moment that Negi and Asuna realized how they must have looked to an outsider: Negi had grabbed Asuna's shoulders and stepped _very_ close when he emphasized the trouble he was in, backing her against the wall. So close, in fact, that their faces were only inches apart.

Negi hurriedly stepped away as if burned. "This is _not_ what it looks like," he said quickly, while Asuna flushed bright red and tried to punch him in the face. Again.

Of course, that little denial didn't stop Konoka from innocently teasing them for the next hour while they carried the rest of Negi's things to their dorm room.

...

Konoka laughed as she opened the door and kicked off her shoes. "The two of you seem to be getting along quite well already, I'm surprised..."

"Konoka, I'm telling you, it's not like that!" Asuna yelled as she followed her into the room, throwing her arms up in agitation. "That was a misunderstanding just now, and I still think he's a stupid brat!"

"No need to be shy, Asuna-san," Konoka teased, "but give him some time to get used to his surroundings first before you do anything, oka~ay?"

"Konoka, stop assuming things already!" Asuna shouted at her, her face red. "You're only going to get me in trouble!"

Konoka cheerfully ignored her. "Hey, Negi-sensei! Aren't you going to come in?"

Negi still stood in the doorway outside the room, laughing awkwardly. "Well, I don't think I should butt in on something as personal as this – it feels unseemly."

"Oh, Negi-sensei, please come in! Don't worry about us talking like this; Asuna just loves arguing, that's all! You'll get used to it!"

"Hey!"

"Well, if it's really no trouble," Negi muttered as he stepped over the threshold. "Please pardon the intrusion."

"Welcome home!" Konoka answered the traditional announcement with a smile.

Negi smiled back weakly before taking a look around. "Home, huh..."

"It's just temporary anyway, so don't make yourself too comfortable," Asuna said, her voice annoyed.

The young teacher just smiled back. "I'll try to stay out of the way as much as possible, so don't worry." He looked guiltily at Konoka. "Konoka-san, do you mind if I start unpacking now? I know it's rather rude, but–"

_So polite_, Konoka thought happily. "Go ahead, Negi-sensei! I guess it's better of you sort your things out now." The dark-haired girl turned to Asuna. "Hey, Asuna-san, do you mind if I go take a bath now? You can help Negi settle in, and I'll make dinner afterwards, okay?"

"Wait, what?" Asuna exclaimed, starting to get riled up again. "Why do I have to stay with him? You're the headmaster's granddaughter; _you_ take care of him! He's too annoying!"

"Well, you can have a bath first, but you'll have to do the cooking later," Konoka said in a sing-song voice.

Her redheaded friend blanched. "That's blackmail."

"Perhaps." Konoka's smile was so radiant that Asuna wasn't even sure whether she was being serious or not. "I'll see you two later!" She winked at her friend, waved at Negi and left quickly after grabbing a towel from the bathroom on the way out.

"Take a bath?" Negi wondered aloud while he opened his travelling bag. "Don't you have a shower here in the bathroom?"

"We have a larger bath here for the dorm residents," Asuna explained, rather unwillingly. "It's really big, so most of the students like to take their baths there."

"Ah, Japanese baths." Negi smiled pleasantly as he started taking out clothes from his travelling bags, arranging them in neat folded piles. "A very important tradition in this country, cleaning rituals. Very hygienic too."

"I guess," Asuna sighed unhappily, sitting down on her bed. "Sheesh," she muttered, "why do you have to stay _here_ of all places?"

Negi blinked, pausing. "Begging your pardon?"

"Well," Asuna began, realizing how awkward this was. "In case you haven't noticed, Negi-sensei, you're a _boy_."

"Well, admittedly, that was the case last time I checked. Should I look again just to make sure?"

"No!" Asuna thought about asking whether he was being serious or if he just had the most deadpan delivery in the world, but then ploughed ahead before this got any more embarrassing. "Well, this is the girl's dormitory, and the principal decides to have you room with two girls?" _It just seems like he's just waiting for a disaster to happen_, she added silently. "And not only that, but you're our teacher too!"

Negi continued folding clothes silently, his eyes cast down. "You shouldn't worry, Kagurazaka-san," he finally said, looking up at her. "I plan on fulfilling my duties as a teacher as best as I possibly can. I will respect the rules of hospitality while I stay in this room with you. You have nothing to fear from me."

"I'd be far more confident about that if you hadn't _stripped_ me," Asuna retorted, still aggravated. "And besides, I'm not scared of you."

"Of course you're not," Negi chuckled. For some reason, Asuna found it surprisingly pleasant to listen to. "But if you're not scared of me, what exactly is it that bothers you, then?"

"What?" she asked incredulously as she sat up on her bed. "What is it that bothers me about me, you ask? You're a mage, idiot! That's what bothers me! Isn't that _obvious_!"

"Ah," Negi said weakly, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Well, that _would_ be far more disconcerting than me being a boy in a girls' dorm, wouldn't it be?"

A large drop of sweat formed on Asuna's forehead. _Is this the British tendency to understate things I've heard so much about? I thought that was just a myth..._

"Is there a place where I can put my clothes?" Negi asked.

Asuna nearly fell off her bed. _He doesn't even care that I found out his secret, but he's more worried about putting away his clothes? These foreigners are too damn weird!_

"There's space in that cupboard," she grumbled.

"Thanks, Kagurazaka-san." She saw him silently put his clothes into the drawers, all of them carefully folded and coordinated by colour and function. After a while, he was finished and Negi sat down in front of his still-opened bag. He ran a hand through his hair in a tired fashion.

"Look, Kagurazaka-san," he began quietly. "To be perfectly honest, it's been quite a while since I've lived among people who consider magic to be something abnormal or unusual. For the last five years, I've travelled with other mages and associates who consider those kinds of things to be commonplace. Suddenly changing your mindset completely is rather difficult, you know?" He chuckled rather humourlessly. "I know this is rather much to ask, but would it be possible for you not to tell anyone about my magic?"

"What, are you going to try to wipe my memory again if I don't agree?" Asuna retorted sarcastically. "You can't order me around, you know!"

"No, I'm not going to do that," Negi said calmly. "This is not an order or anything of the sort." He sat up in the traditional position, bowing down until his forehead nearly touched the ground. "This is a request."

Asuna just stared at Negi, stunned. Anything she had expected, but not... _this_. "Gah, you stupid idiot, get up! A foreigner sitting _seiza_ and kowtowing? This is like a really bad budget movie!"_ And I'm going to make the moron pay who wrote the script_, she swore to herself. She jumped off her bed and grabbed Negi by the shoulders. "Get up already, you stupid brat!"

Negi looked up at worriedly, but otherwise didn't budge. "Do you promise not to tell anyone about magic, Kagurazaka-san?"

"What?"

"Please! It's important to me!" Negi's head ducked back down, hiding his expression. "It could well be a matter of life and death!"

What the... Now that she looked at him, cowering to the ground, Negi didn't seem like the British gentleman he'd been a moment ago. Whenever she'd seen him today, he had always been in control of himself, pleasant, courteous and polite to everyone, including her, even in the most ridiculous situations. It was only now, when he literally _begged_ her for her help that she could see past that facade.

He was still nothing but a stupid brat.

Asuna's fist slammed onto the back of Negi's head, driving his face into the floor. "I told you to get up, damn it! Stop grovelling already!"

Negi sat up quickly after that, cradling his forehead. "Ow..."

"Now, it's really important to you that no one finds out you're a mage, right?"

Negi carefully took off his pince-nez, avoiding Asuna's hard stare. "I wasn't lying about getting executed, Kagurazaka-san," he replied quietly as he inspected the lenses for cracks. "I wouldn't beg otherwise. My life is rather important to me."

Asuna stared at him for a moment. He didn't seem to be lying.

She sighed. "I get it, I get it. It's all a big secret; normal people can't know about it because they'd be in danger, blah blah blah; like in every stupid fantasy story. Don't worry; I'll keep your secret."

"Are you serious?" Negi asked, his expression brightening.

"You want me to pinkyswear or something?" Asuna grumbled when she saw Negi's clueless expression. "That means that I promise that I won't tell anyone, swallow a thousand needles if I lie, yadda yadda yadda. Seems to be important to you."

"Really?" Negi relaxed, his shoulders slumping as he chuckled wearily. "That's a relief..."

"On one condition." Negi's head snapped back up warily, Asuna pointing a finger right in his face. "No more of this 'Kagurazaka-san' business. We're going to be living together here, so there's no need to stand on stupid ceremony. 'Asuna-san' is fine."

Negi smiled at her. "Is that all?" he asked, the tension leaving his face. "Well, just call me Negi, then." He gently reached up and took her outstretched hand in his own, briefly touching his lips to the back of her hand. "Thank you, Asuna-san," he said, an honest smile on his face. "Thank you very much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

For a moment they just sat there, looking at each other silently. Negi still hadn't let go of her hand.

"Well, you two _really_ seem to get along well," a voice giggled. Asuna's head snapped around to see Konoka standing in the doorway, smiling all too innocently.

Asuna bolted upright, her face reddening faster than a fire truck rounding the corner at breakneck speed. "Konoka! Didn't you say you were going to take a bath?"

"Already took it!" Konoka explained happily. "Your turn, Asuna, Negi-sensei!"

"Go ahead, Kagurazaka-san," Negi waved her on. "I have to finish unpacking first before I do anything else."

"All right, all right, I get it!" Asuna grumbled, the blood refusing to leave her face as she grabbed her towel hurriedly. "And I told you, it's 'Asuna-san'! Get it right, newbie!"

"You're already calling each other by your first names?" Konoka smiled. "That's great! But I've never seen Asuna get so close to a boy so quickly though..." She tilted her head as she looked at her increasingly flustered roommate, smiling.

"Konoka!" Asuna yelled. "Stop saying things like that already!"

Negi looked up from his bag to see Konoka and Asuna arguing – well, Asuna was speaking quickly and loudly to Konoka while her friend just stood there and smiled innocently at her, apparently not exactly understanding what she was getting so worked up about.

It felt warm and homely here. It was rather sad that he wouldn't get to stay here for long, but he guessed that was inevitable – after all, he was their teacher, this was a girls' dormitory, and it was a mere temporary arrangement. But still, even if he had only been here for a short while, it reminded him a lot of living aboard the _Aequitas_. Full of people, warm and friendly.

Yes, this would do fine for now. He really needed some peace of mind.

...

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?_ was released by studio Shaft, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

Again, please support the official release, and be kind enough to leave a review.


	4. Chapter IV – Scars

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Good day or good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the fourth chapter of _The Oncoming Storm_! I want to thank you all for waiting so patiently for the next instalment of this story, but I had various problems to figure out first.

I mentioned previously that my computer was broken a while back – this meant that I had rewrite the chapters I had lost from scratch, but I decided to write something new and take the story in a different direction. I also wanted to update my other stories before this one, and even though that's a rather bad excuse, it's the unvarnished truth. So, I sincerely apologize to all those who patiently waited for an update while I worked on something else, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter.

This is the chapter that starts to reveal something of Negi's past – and also shows what a (slightly) different person has become because of it. Older, more mature, and perhaps even slightly melancholic. Remember, dear readers, that this is a For The Want Of A Nail story (TVtropes is awesome, by the way) – but what the canon-changing event exactly is, well, that shall remain a mystery for the time being.

Your comments and critiques are very much appreciated. Tell me what you think, if you liked it, if you enjoyed some parts, but not others, or if you just straight-up hated it. Your feedback had made me become a better writer. All opinions are welcome.

I hope you had as fun reading this story as I had writing it, and please leave a review.

…

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter IV – Scars**

…

Asuna thought that her day so far had _sucked_.

Which wasn't a completely unreasonable assessment, from her point of view – first, she'd been accosted by a strange foreign boy on the way to school and promptly slugged him in the face. Wanton violence in the morning rarely lifts the spirit. When he turned out to be her future homeroom teacher, her day only turned from bad to worse.

_Then_ she found out that he was some weird whacko with magical powers. Who tried to erase her memory and stripped her in front of her crush. And to add insult to injury, she had to share a room with him, because apparently, the dean of the school couldn't find a spare room somewhere in the entire city.

Unsurprising, really, that Asuna found it difficult to find sleep.

She turned again, wrapping her blanket tightly around herself and clenching her eyes shut. She'd been sharing a dorm room with Konoka ever since the two of them had joined middle school together. She'd gotten used to her bunk bed and Konoka's soft breathing in the bed below.

Having someone else in the room at night, someone who she barely knew – and someone who she certainly didn't _trust_ – disturbed her far more than she would have ever admitted to anyone.

She cursed quietly, rolling over and looking down into the centre of the room. The dormitory room was dark, the only light being the moon and the streetlamps shining in from the balcony window. Negi had been pleasant and considerate the whole evening through, and had immediately refused Konoka's apparently innocent offer of sharing a bed.

Instead, he'd done the next best thing, proving that (unlike the airheaded princess) he seemed to possess at least some small measure of common sense. He'd stretched out a futon next to the table and had been out like a light after politely wishing them goodnight once dinner was over. In fact, Asuna thought, he had seemed unnaturally tired.

_Hmph. Probably jetlag. _

But still, as she studied him now, she noted that he didn't just look tired. He looked positively exhausted. As if he had run a marathon today, stretching himself to his limits.

And yet he still didn't manage to fall asleep.

Wait, he _was_ asleep, Asuna noticed with narrowed eyes. His eyes were closed, at least, but he was tossing and turning violently, having thrown back his blanket only moments before. His red hair was matted with sweat and he was grimacing in pain, his eyes twitching behind his eyelids. He was breathing heavily and occasionally whimpering, and Asuna saw the fingers of his scarred hand clench and unclench violently until his other hand gripped it, gripping it until his knuckles turned white.

A nightmare. He was having a nightmare.

Asuna opened her mouth as his elbow slammed against the table with a loud bang, an annoyed rant already on her lips, but she closed it again after a moment, unsure. Should she really wake him up? It would be rude, wouldn't it?

And he probably wouldn't appreciate being seen in a weak spot. Class Rep had never liked Asuna waking her up when she was crying in her sleep.

For a moment, Asuna debated simply throwing her pillow at his head, but then realized that she'd have to climb down from her bunk bed anyway to get it back.

Asuna watched for a moment as he twitched again, grimacing. She sighed and grumbled as she threw back her own blanket, quietly climbing down the ladder from her bunk so as not to wake Konoka. She leant down, lightly shaking his shoulder and hissing his name. "Negi!"

His eyes snapped open, and Asuna only saw pure, naked _terror_ in them as he woke up with a start. That only lasted a moment – faster than she had ever seen anybody move, he had leapt up and wrestled her to the ground, one of his forearms choking her. A few words were hissed in a language that was neither Japanese nor English, and suddenly his other hand holding a blade close to her face, the weapon having appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you?!" he hissed, his eyes boring into her own, panicked. When she started to struggle against his hold, choking and spluttering, they widened in horrified shock. "Kagurazaka-san?" The blade disappeared as if it had never existed, and he quickly scrabbled back, raising his hands up in panic. "Oh, God help me. Are you injured?"

Asuna had scrabbled back, rubbing her throat. "What the _hell_ was that for?!" she hissed at him, trying very hard not to shout out loud. "Are you _crazy_ or something, pulling a _knife_ on me?"

"I am so very, _very_ sorry, Kagurazaka-san," Negi whispered, his face ashen. He quietly shuffled towards her on his knees, reaching out with a single finger. "_Cura_," he whispered as he drew it down her cheek, and Asuna suddenly felt a small cut knit itself back together instantly. She grasped it, shaking as she felt skin as smooth as usual under her palm.

"It won't scar," Negi promised anxiously. "I've had experience with spells like that, and the cut was only superficial…" For a moment, they both just sat there in awkward silence, avoiding each other's eyes. "…Did I wake you up, Kagurazaka-san?"

"Yes!" Asuna whispered angrily, still restraining herself so as not to wake Konoka. Still, her eyes were furious. "I thought you were having a nightmare!"

The young Englishman chuckled bitterly to himself. "Well, I dare say you weren't wrong." He ran a hand through his matted hair, sighing. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that," he said quietly. "I'm… paranoid by habit, some might say. I'm sorry I nearly hurt you."

"You pulled a _knife_ on me," Asuna repeated, glaring. "That goes _well_ beyond paranoid and right into psycho territory, if you ask me."

He laughed quietly and smiled at her, and she couldn't help but stare. When he smiled, the pain just seemed to _disappear_ from his face, as if it had never been there. He got unsteadily to his feet. "Go back to bed, Kagurazaka-san," he whispered. "You have school tomorrow."

She glared at him, still annoyed. "And what are _you_ planning to do?"

He just shrugged as he carefully stepped around her. "I won't be able to sleep _now_, in any case. I might as well clean up a bit. Hell," he muttered as he quietly opened the door to the dorm, more to himself than to her, "I need it."

And with that, the door had closed behind him, leaving behind a confused middle school girl that didn't sleep all too well for the rest of the night.

…

Meanwhile, Negi was making his way to the baths located in the top floor of the dormitory, his heart beating like a sledgehammer and his mind racing in panic and quite a healthy bit of fear.

That had been close, _far_ too close for his liking. He had nearly killed an innocent schoolgirl just because she had surprised him – a _civilian_ had gotten the drop on him, for God's sake! Had he been really so tired that he hadn't noticed his wards and barrier going off?

He blinked as a sudden thought struck him. Had his wards even gone off at all?

Negi quickly touched at his throat, where a small necklace hung. It was a simple silver chain with a cross hanging from it – it had no religious significance at all, really, but the tiny runes he had etched into the pendant served as a magical conduit for the wards he surrounded himself with, to tell when someone was approaching him without his knowledge. It had always heated up, acting like a crude proximity radar. This would have been the first time its wards had failed, too…

But no, his wards were still working perfectly. And yet Asuna had still managed to touch him without his amulet warning him first. And apparently, she hadn't done it on purpose, considering she had apparently never heard of magic before this day's events.

How unexplainably _bizarre_.

His mind returned to darker things, though. He imagined the three steps that his extensive combat training had drilled into him: Take the initiative. Bind the enemy's movements. And then kill him or her so that he or she couldn't fight back.

He could imagine it so, _so_ easily: his next movement would have been to drive the conjured blade through her eye and into her brain, killing her more or less instantly. Or perhaps slice open one of the major arteries located in her throat that pumped blood to her brain, leaving her to bleed out in seconds. He'd only managed to stop himself at the last moment before he'd killed Asuna.

An innocent girl, damn it.

"God," he muttered as he stumbled along the dark corridor of the dormitory, his hands shaking. "I feel sick."

When he had applied for a job at Mahora Academy, he had only wanted peace and quiet for himself. He'd never even thought that he might endanger others around him.

Negi's mouth curled up into a small, wistful smile. For a supposed genius, he could on occasion be _incredibly_ stupid. He grasped at the silver necklace around his neck, and he felt the small ring that hung next to the cross-shaped pendant lie against his chest, its metal icily cool against his feverish skin.

_She_ had told him that, hadn't she? And she had been right. Again.

Negi laughed quietly to himself as he finally found the stairs, climbing them to reach the baths on the last floor. She had _always_ been right...

_Well, not always_, he corrected himself after some reflection. He'd won some of their arguments too, though never where it really mattered.

_Hey, no use thinking about it _now_, is there? _

He quietly shut out that treacherous little whisper as he entered the baths, wondering where the lights where and quickly deciding that he didn't really care. He shed his clothes and settled down in the cool water of the swimming pool, being very careful where to put his feet. He hissed when his scarred arm entered the water, his skin tingling madly.

He glanced at the scar as he swam a round in the pool, grimacing. It still _hurt_, even months after the healers at the Union Military Hospital in New Ostia had assured him that the pain would soon recede. During the day, when he was distracted by the world moving around him, demanding his full attention and getting it, he could easily ignore it.

The nights, when he settled down to sleep and could only listen to his own heartbeat, were a different story altogether.

Negi watched as the ripples of the water distorted the image of his scarred arm, his thoughts drifting away again. No wonder he hadn't slept well recently.

"Oi! What're you doing here, bro?"

Negi looked up, distracted by the gruff voice, but relaxed instantly when he recognized its rodent-sized owner. Chamo, by virtue of being a determined panty-thief, deviously clever, and generally being a small animal and easily overlooked, had the not-so-surprising talent to sneak into any place he damn well wanted to, and considering that the lights in the baths were turned off, it was easily explained that Negi hadn't spotted him.

"Hey, Chamo," he said, grinning weakly. "Couldn't sleep."

"What, _again_?" the ermine exclaimed, his gruff voice exasperated and worried. He approached, a cigarette clenched between his teeth. "Look, we talked about this, bro – if you really can't fall sleep, you gotta take pills. You can't just go on like this."

"None of that, Chamo," Negi said firmly, shifting in the water. "I am _not_ going to use medication to get to sleep."

"Look, if you're worried about ending up needing them every night, I know about half a dozen sleeping potions without any addictive substances in their ingredients—"

"Stop it, Chamo," he said tiredly, running a hand through his hair and scowling at his familiar spirit. "I don't want to medicate myself. The people at the Military Hospital were already bad enough, but now you too? Give me a break, _please_. The nightmares are bad enough."

The ermine huffed, sucking on his cigarette but saying nothing. Negi knew him well enough to be sure that he would start up the same line of argument again the next time he failed to find sleep. And the young mage couldn't be angry with him, in all honesty. After all, the small rodent was concerned for him, no matter how annoying he may occasionally be.

"Impressive facilities they have here, don't you think?" Negi said quietly, throwing a look around the spacious bath.

Chamo took the hint to change the subject, breathing out a small cloud of smoke. "Are you kidding!?" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "This place is totally awesome! There's hot water, cold water, showers, an Olympic-style swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi! An _actual_ Jacuzzi, bro! Haven't been in one of those for ages!"

Negi chuckled to himself, crossing his arms over the rim of the pool and grinning. "Bit of a change compared to rationing our water supplies aboard the _Aequitas_, don't you think?"

"Ah, shut it," Chamo grumbled, taking a last drag on his cigarette stub and flicking it away, obviously not giving a damn about public health and safety regulations. Classy. "I only got to visit the public baths when you got shore leave. If the town we stopped at even _had_ a public bath after the Imperials marched through, damn it."

Negi laughed quietly. "We had to clean up in the nearest river when we had the chance, didn't we? That was strange…" His expression morphed into one of confusion, blinking. "Chamo?"

"Yeah, bro?" the ermine mumbled, fiddling with his next cigarette and licking along the length of the thin paper with a loud slurping sound. "Wazzup?"

Negi watched with a frown of slight disgust on his face, but he decided not to comment. Nor now, at least. "…Why do you have a camera hanging around your neck?"

Chamo looked down as he lit his cigarette, and indeed, there was a small ermine-sized photo camera hanging from a strap around his neck. The sight would have been considered absurd by anyone, but Negi had more or less grown up with such strange sights around him.

If anything, he noted cynically, a chain-smoking, motor-mouthed ermine that apparently had two opposable thumbs to turn his own cigarettes and use a camera was amongst the _least_ bizarre things he had seen in his life.

"…I hate my job," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Chamo looked up, squinting quizzically at him in the gloom. "Pardon?"

"Ah, nothing. Are you ever going to tell me what the camera is for, or are you going to leave me in the dark for long?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"Ha, ha," Chamo said drily, taking an exaggerated look at the dimly lit baths. "Your puns are getting better, though that doesn't really mean much. As for the camera… Well, to be _completely_ honest… erm…"

Negi narrowed his eyes at the uncomfortably fidgeting rodent. "You're hiding something from me."

Chamo grinned weakly, rubbing his neck. "…Would you believe me if I told you that I've gotten this sudden impulse to express my newfound muse through artistic photography?"

"Oh, of course I would," Negi said, rolling his eyes and giving his familiar a flat look. "I'm more concerned with the _subjects_ of those pictures you're trying to express your alleged muse through, though. They wouldn't happen to be my underage students, by any chance?"

"Ah…" Chamo laughed nervously, backing away slowly as sweat broke out across his forehead. "You have that look in your eyes again, bro…"

"Chamo…" Negi chided, his voice dangerously cold.

"Alright, alright!" the ermine squeaked, frantically backpedalling. "I wasn't going to do anything, I swear—"

Negi's disapproving scowl disappeared as he suddenly felt the cross pendant hanging from his necklace heat up like a branding iron.

Someone was coming.

"Chamo!" he hissed. "Hide!"

The ermine disappeared instantly in a flash of white fur. People rarely expected it, but Chamo could move _fast_ when he wanted to. It had saved his life more than once.

Negi lowered himself quietly into the water, trying not to move. Any noise now might be dangerous.

His mind raced as his body stilled. Who would be walking around the baths of a Japanese school dormitory in the middle of the night? The students had curfew and were all in their beds, so that only left the teachers – who all had their own accommodations, apparently – or someone else entirely.

Had someone followed him to Mahora through the gateport? Or was it another faction from the Old World, supported by one of his enemies? He'd annoyed far too many people over the years, and he could name a few powerful groups off the top of his head that might consider attacking him, even if it meant risking exposure to the non-magical world.

Of those groups, one was a magical Empire with near-limitless resources and a deep grudge, another few were terrorist groups and guerrilla fighters that saw him as a symbol of oppression and would only gladly kill him for the publicity value, innocents be damned, and the last one was an association of mages that wanted to offer him a job.

Of all those groups, Negi wasn't entirely sure which one was the worst, but he didn't plan on finding out.

For starters, he refused to let them catch up with him.

…Wasn't _that_ the real reason he had come to Mahora, this peaceful place that was as far away from Mundus Magicus as he could possibly manage?

Footsteps echoed in the corridor at the end of the entrance to the baths, nearly inaudible over the quiet splashing of the water. The cross around his neck grew warmer, the metal starting to bite into his skin.

"_Me Armet_," Negi whispered, and the ring on the finger of his right hand lit up with a small flash, and the young mage's fingers suddenly gripped a long-barrelled revolver.

Negi didn't bother checking the chamber. It was always loaded and close at hand, had been ever since his first engagement.

_The thing about battles_, he thought as he drew back the hammer with a quiet click, aiming it with a steady hand at the centre of the door, _is that they tend to hit you when you least expect them._

He had to admit, though: they had never tried to get his head while he was in the bath, stark naked. Certainly a new approach.

The door opened, and he could make out a figure in the darkness. However, they didn't move through immediately, as he would have expected from professional mercenaries or hitwizards (most casualties in close-quarter combat took place in doorways), but instead…

Negi frowned as a few other dark shapes appeared behind the first, entering the room as quietly as they could. Were they _tiptoeing_? Hell, professionalism usually meant something else.

"Is anyone there?" a voice called out quietly.

Negi was sorely tempted to answer "No! Now beat it!", just so he could see her reaction, but restrained himself. He let out a quiet sigh, letting the hammer drop back into place and pointing the gun away from the door. That had been a girl's voice. Specifically, that had been the voice of one of his new students.

"Sakurako, you idiot!" another voice hissed, and he heard someone getting whapped upside the head. "We're not supposed to be here, remember?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" the cheerleader mumbled, and Negi thought he could see her rubbing her head sheepishly. "I just thought it'd be best to ask first, you know?"

"You are _so_ lucky that it was actually empty," the other girl grumbled as the three shape moved towards the edge of the pool. _Yūna Akashi_, Negi thought, recognizing the way her silhouette moved in the darkness: a light but assured step, as would befit a skilled basketball player, bristling with suppressed energy.

"I thought we'd already established a long, long time ago that Sakurako has the greatest luck of all," another voice added softly, her voice quietly amused. Negi remembered her name a moment later, recognizing the tall figure, ponytail, and lithe body. _…Akira Okochi_.

"So, are we gonna swim or not?" Yūna asked impatiently, dancing on the balls of her feet. "We don't have all night, and I really need to relax a bit after practice today! Coach ran us ragged, I swear!"

"Don't you guys have a tournament soon?" Sakurako asked curiously as they brought out towels. "We're supposed to cheer for you, I think…"

"Well, yeah, it's an inter-school tourney with teams from around the region…"

Negi relaxed completely, the gun in his hand disappearing with nothing more a thought. Thank goodness. They hadn't been after him. They were just three teenagers skipping curfew for a midnight swim. He smiled to himself, amused. Technically, it was against school regulations, but rules, while not exactly meant to be broken, in his opinion, could occasionally be bent when no one got hurt.

And besides, could he really begrudge a few good friends making fond memories of their youth?

Still, he tried not to move in the water. His students would undoubtedly be embarrassed if he caught them in flagranti delicto, and to be honest, he had enough of a headache without having to deal with a bunch of hyperactive teenage girls in the middle of the night.

_Hehehehe…_ a voice giggled in the recesses of his mind. He tensed, but relaxed when he recognized the gruff voice of his perverted familiar. _Now those are fine-looking ladies, I tell ye…_

Negi sighed. _Chamo, I swear by the name of Merlin and whatever spirits and gods your species of fae may worship that if you start taking pictures of those girls changing, I will end you and wear you as a hat_.

_You know what I say to that? Totally worth it_.

Negi sent him a small psychic shock through their connection. _Don't test me, you perverted little rodent_.

_Ow, bro!_ the ermine whined piteously. _Ease up on the creepy mind magic, will ye?_

_Ease up on the stupid habits that get me into trouble everywhere I go_, Negi shot back.

_Fine, fine, no pictures_, Chamo mumbled dejectedly. _Eyes only_.

_Thank you for your cooperation_, Negi said drily.

_Bite me_. There was a low, appreciative whistle that only Negi could hear. _But like I said, bro, those are some fine-looking bodies, no doubt about it!_

Negi rolled his eyes. He didn't doubt that the crafty pervert had found a good vantage point to watch the girls change. _You said 'ladies', not 'bodies'._

_My vocabulary is far too expansive to repeat myself, _Chamo replied haughtily._ And hell, it rhymes._

_Your rhyming is atrocious, just so you know_, Negi answered, smirking to himself. _Better not try to express your newfound artistic muse through poetry; you might just kill someone by accident._

The ermine huffed, offended. _Now you just _know_ that I'll try to prove you wrong. _

_…And I have a pretty good idea who your first victim will be. _

_Ah, shut yer trap already, you stupid biped_, Chamo grumbled, though he soon grew quiet.

Negi couldn't really blame him. Still clutching to the rim of the swimming pool, he threw a quick look over his shoulder to the other end to see the girls already in their swimsuits and quietly chatting to one another, and he couldn't help but notice that all three of them were toned and athletic from hours of sports practice, and that all of them were very, _very_ pretty, each in their own way.

He quickly looked away, grumbling quietly to himself. Puberty could be so very irritating. Who would have thought that such a small bunch of hormones could have such a great impact?

There were quiet splashes of water and muted laughs as the three girls swam at their end of the pool, and he gave a small sigh of relief. No more temptation of the visual kind, at least. Now, if he could only leave without any of them noticing—

"What do you think of our new teacher?" he heard Sakurako ask quietly.

He stilled, not even daring to breathe.

"…He's pretty unusual, I guess," Akira said cautiously.

"_Unusual?!_" Yūna repeated disbelievingly, the excitable girl apparently having trouble keeping her voice down. "Akira, he's our age and he's already finished university! That's not unusual, that's straight-up weird!"

The regular splashing sounds of Akira's strokes slowed, and Negi couldn't quite tell where she was. "Well, so?"

"Well, what is he doing _here_, then?" Yūna continued, apparently swimming circles around Akira. "I mean, if he's supposed to be all clever and genius-like and stuff, how come he's only an English teacher? Why isn't he building rockets, or writing books, or working somewhere where he earns a ton of money? And if he already graduated university five years ago, what did he do before that? How come we've never heard anything about him?"

"I have no idea," Akira said wryly as she kept swimming sedately, "but I have no doubt you're going to tell us any moment now."

"I think he's got something to hide!" Yūna exclaimed, her voice dropping to a mysterious whisper. "I mean, think about it! He's never been in the news or on TV, he hasn't told us what he did after leaving school, and he's got that big scar on his hand! He's probably a secret agent or something!"

Negi worked very hard not to have his brain crash and burn like the average home computer, even though he was tempted to. _That girl_, he thought as he gaped at Yūna from the other end of the pool, still excitedly swimming circles around her friends, _has entirely too much energy on her hands. Far too clever for my liking, too, even if it's not really the right answer. _

He heard Akira give a long-suffering sigh. "Another conspiracy theory, Yūna? Seriously?"

"Aw, come on, Akira!" her friend whined. "It makes total sense!"

"You said the same thing about Takahata-sensei, didn't you?" Sakurako piped up. "And that was because he's always off on those business trips that he never tells us about, right?"

"Well, yeah," Yūna admitted unwillingly.

Sakurako giggled. "I remember that. You totally embarrassed yourself when you accused him of working for the mob, didn't you?"

"Well, they call him 'Death Glasses,' you know," Yūna grumbled. "But how was I supposed to know that he does charity work in Africa when he can take on dozens of delinquents at once? I mean, seriously! Talk about an out-of-character moment!"

"Well, I don't think Springfield-sensei is a secret agent," Akira interrupted, her voice sounding amused. "He looks pretty harmless."

"Ah, but that's why he would be such a great secret agent!" Yūna retorted, holding up a hand when Akira opened her mouth. "It's the ones that are really quiet and friendly that are the best at infiltrating organizations and getting your trust and… doing other spy stuff!"

_…_Far_ too clever, that girl. _

"Have you been watching those James Bond movies again?" Sakurako asked, grinning.

"Ah, hell no!" Yūna scoffed. "The bad guys are always so obvious in those! It was that American movie about a secret agent that suddenly lost his memory and stuff, and he was hunting down his old colleagues to get back his memory of who he was. It was pretty cool, actually!"

"Sounds fun."

"And the actor that played him was a total hottie, too," Yūna added, grinning impishly.

If he had to guess from the coughing sounds, Akira had apparently managed to choke on some water. "Y-Yūna!"

"Aw, come on, Akira! It's the truth!"

"Do you _have_ to say things like that?!"

"If it embarrasses you that much? Course!" The basketball player laughed mischievously as she splashed her friend with water. "You need to loosen up a bit, Akira! It's not healthy to be prim and proper all the time!"

"It has nothing to do with being unhealthy," Akira muttered as she tried to hide her flush. "It's just… me being me."

Sakurako giggled. "Aw, Akira is shy!"

"I am not!" the tall girl spluttered, squeaking as her friends suddenly jumped on her and dragged her under the water. She managed to get herself free after a few moments of desperate thrashing, the two other girls laughing at her as she broke the surface, gasping for breath. A moment later, her glare mellowed, and soon she was giggling along.

Negi watched it all with a faint smile on his face.

Soon, the three middle school students were floating on their backs, looking up at the cloudy sky through the glass roof of the bath. There were many stars, but the moon was hidden.

"…You're cool, you know," Yūna said after a moment, throwing a grin in Akira's direction. "You wouldn't be you if you started acting all different. Don't you ever change."

Akira just smiled back. "Don't worry, I won't."

"Still," Sakurako chimed in, "I'd really like to know what you thought of Negi-sensei, Akira! You never told us!"

"Hey, that's true! Come on, Aki-chan, tell us what you thought of our new teacher!"

"He looked… nice, I guess."

"'Hottie' kind of nice?" Yūna kept digging, grinning cheekily at her friend.

Akira flushed a fierce red. "That's not what I meant! I thought he looked like a kind person, that's all!"

"Hey, admit it, you think that he doesn't look that bad," Yūna teased her with a wide grin.

"I wonder where he got that scar on his hand, though," Sakurako mused. "He didn't tell us about it, did he?"

"It's not really any of our business," Akira chided, looking uncomfortable.

"Still, did you see how uncomfortable he was when Hakase asked him about it?"

"Hakase might be a genius," Yūna muttered, "but that doesn't mean she has a lick of common sense."

Akira frowned at the basketball player. "That's not exactly nice, Yūna."

"Nope, but it's the truth! Didn't you see how Ako looked ready about to kill when Hakase pointed out his scar right in front of everyone? That was just rude, I tell you."

"What, and asking him whether he dyed his hair wasn't?" Akira asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah, that was actually quite rude, but it was _funny_. There's a difference."

"I thought he looked sad."

Both Yūna and Akira blinked in unison, staring confusedly at Sakurako. "Whaddaya mean by that, Saku-chan?"

"He looked sad, or… or tired, didn't he?" Sakurako frowned. "No, that's not really it. There's a word for that somewhere… something with an 'M'… Molar… Melon…"

Negi loudly cleared his throat. "_Melancholic_, Shiina-san."

He had to admit that the look of utter panic on their faces was amusing, in a twisted sort of way. Ah, Schadenfreude, beste Freude.

"Who's there?!" Yūna shouted out, glaring into the darkness of the baths. "Show yourself!"

"Considering that I'm stark naked, Akashi-san," Negi said loudly and politely, "I'm very much disinclined to 'show myself.' I'm sure your father would kill me if I did such a thing. However, if you're really that interested, I'm at the other end of the pool."

"Negi-sensei?!" Sakurako said, sounding quite horrified when she recognized his voice. "How long have you been here?!"

"A fair while before you entered." He waved off their embarrassed looks with a quiet laugh. "Don't worry. My glasses are over there with my things; I'm as blind as a bat. I saw nothing."

An outright lie, of course, but if it took a little fib to convince his new students that he wasn't a perverted voyeur, he would gladly tell it. And besides, anything he _did_ see was by accident only.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the swimming pool, tinged with mutual embarrassment – for the three girls because getting caught by your new teacher when violating rules was the best way to make a bad impression, and for Negi because he had no clue how to talk to a teenage girl.

Well, technically he _did_ know how to speak to a teenage girl, but she had been a special case. For starters, she had been anything but normal.

"…Negi-sensei," Akira cautiously spoke up. "Are we in trouble?"

Negi blinked in surprise. "Trouble? Why would you say that?"

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, sensei," Yūna said, grinning sheepishly, "but we're kinda breaking curfew here."

"Well, I'm not supposed to be here either, so if no one mentions anything…" Negi trailed off, giving the three students a small smile.

"So, you mean—"

"Well, I'm pretty new at this whole discipline thing," he added thoughtfully. "And I'm still rather knackered because of my flight from Britain, so I was just planning on getting back to bed with the least fuss possible, but if you truly insist—"

"No, no, we're fine!" Sakurako said quickly, smiling cheerfully at her new teacher as she slapped her hands over her friends' mouth before they could say anything else. "Don't mind us, sensei!"

Negi nodded, amused by her quick thinking. "Good! I'm sure we'll get along splendidly."

The three girls visibly relaxed, smiling and laughing quietly, trying to hide their giggles behind raised hands. For a while, neither of them said anything, simply swimming around at their respective ends of the pool.

"…So, Negi-sensei," Sakurako spoke up, apparently unable to stand the silence anymore. "Were you listening to us talking?"

"Sorry," Negi muttered as he scratched his cheek, having the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"Nah, that's fine," Yūna said, grinning. "But are you really a secret agent?"

He gave her a flat look. "Oh, yes. Of course I am."

"Really?!" she asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "What's your mission? Come on, tell us!"

"I heard from a reliable intelligence source – an insider tip, if you will…" Negi paused for effect as Yūna swam closer to catch his words. "…that Class 2-A has the worst grade average of any class in Mahora Middle School since the school's founding."

_I am enjoying this far more than I should_, Negi reflected as he watched Yūna nearly trip over her own feet in water. While it was difficult, it definitely looked amusing.

"Wait, _that's_ your secret mission!?" she said aloud, flabbergasted.

"No, my mission is to make sure you all graduate," Negi said primly. He grinned at his scowling student. "Sounds like the kind of dangerous job that would require a highly-trained secret agent, don't you agree?"

Yūna's eyes narrowed and she pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"I would never even dream about it," he said with a cheerful smile. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

With a deft breaststroke, he swam past Yūna (who was now grumbling under her breath about something called "trolls", making him wonder why she would suddenly mention Norse mythology and Northern European demonic creatures) to the rim of the swimming pool, heaving himself out of the water with a quick jump, splashing water across the tiles. He quickly walked over to the place he left his towel and clothes, unwilling to walk around as God made him any longer than was absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough as the moon reappeared from its hiding spot behind the clouds, colouring the whole swimming pool an eerie, pale white colour.

He heard a few sharp intakes of breath behind him, and he closed his eyes, resigned. He had hoped that they wouldn't notice it.

"Sensei…" he heard Sakurako hesitantly ask. "How did that all happen?"

He put on his trousers, smiling as politely as he could. "How did what happen, Shiina-san?"

"Those scars, sensei!" Yūna blurted out, though she winced immediately afterwards. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry—"

"Don't worry," Negi interrupted her, raising his right arm until it was fully visible in the moonlight. "It's rather hard to miss, don't you think?"

The scar on his hand looked relatively harmless at first glance – it may have been rather large, but people tended only to notice it when they first met Negi, thinking it the result of a simple accident, and then ignoring it afterwards as they came to know him.

But now that their new teacher was shirtless, the three students could see that it wasn't just a simple cut. It was a long, jagged estafilade that started out from the knuckles of his hand and grew all the way along the back of his arm until it reached his elbow. The skin had obviously not healed well, because the scar was deep, puckered, and there were thin, vertical lines drawn across the original scar that suggested it had been once been stitched. The limb looked as if had once been split open from knuckle to elbow.

It made all the sports injuries that Akira, Yūna, and Sakurako – who had seen their fair share of bruises, concussions, and broken bones – appear tame in comparison. In fact, they felt violently ill by the sight before them.

Negi flexed his fingers, making the muscles in his scarred arm dance. He wasn't really surprised by the disgusted looks on their pale faces – there was a reason why he had started to prefer long-sleeved shirts. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "It looks pretty nasty, I know, but all things considered, I was rather lucky."

"Lucky?" Akira said faintly. "You call yourself 'lucky', sensei?"

He gave her a wry smile. "I managed to keep all my fingers. That's enough luck for me."

With that, he reached down to grab his shirt, and the three students could see that his body, taut and wiry from some kind of intensive training, was covered by a number of scars – some were small and clean cuts, and therefore easily missed, while others were larger and drew the eye with morbid fascination – cuts, badly scarred bruises, and… claw marks?

Akira noted with a shudder that _something_ had apparently taken a chunk out of Negi-sensei, considering the large, circular patch of white scar tissue the size of her fist that appeared on his side and exited on his back.

"Negi-sensei," Yūna asked, unusually quiet and hesitant. "How did this happen to you?"

Negi pulled his shirt over his head, looking up as he closed the buttons one by one. "Some were accidents," he finally answered. "Others were just bad luck on my part, and… I made a choice." He gave his three students a faraway smile. "And I've regretted it ever since, even though it was the right thing to do. Funny, that."

None of them really knew what to say to that.

"Now!" he said loudly, clapping his hands together and badly startling the three girls. "I know that I'm a horrendously bad example, but you lot should really get some sleep, alright? You have school tomorrow, and I won't let you slack off in my class just because you're tired, understand?"

"Yes, sensei," all three of them muttered, grimacing as they were suddenly reminded of their lessons (and in Yūna's and Sakurako's case, the occasional piece of homework they had forgotten after club training).

Negi watched it all with an amused smile. _Oh, the horrible life of a middle school student. And it only gets worse from here._

He grabbed his towel off the floor, waving at the three swimming students. "Goodnight, Shiina-san, Okochi-san, Akashi-san. Sleep well."

"Take care, sensei!" "Same to you, newbie!" "Goodnight, sensei!" echoed quietly after him as he stepped out into the corridor, soundlessly closing the door behind him to allow them some privacy.

He tried to remember what time it was, but realized he had left his watch in Asuna's room. He yawned as he trudged towards the stairs, his head already feeling heavier. Whatever time it was, it was really time to get some sleep in, even if it was tinged with nightmares.

He grimaced. His students weren't the only ones that had school tomorrow, after all. There were classes to prepare, worksheets to print out, paperwork, meeting his new colleagues…

Negi sighed as he quietly opened the door to Asuna's and Konoka's dormitory, walking silently so as not to wake the two girls. He found his futon more by accident than by design – God, he was _tired_ – and made a controlled fall onto the covers, sprawling himself out.

He had already closed his eyes to finally fall sleep when he heard some bed covers shift. "…Negi? Is that you?"

"It's me," he answered in a cautious whisper, not turning around. "You couldn't sleep?"

The redhead scoffed. "After your little episode? Not damn well likely."

Negi grimaced. "I'm sorry."

"Ah, stop apologizing already!"

"Sorry."

"See what I mean, new guy?"

Negi couldn't help but chuckle quietly, muffling the sound by biting his bed cover. For a moment, neither of them said anything.

"Hey, Negi," Asuna finally spoke up, and now she sounded reluctant. "Is there a chance that you might go crazy again?"

"I'm not crazy, Asuna-san," Negi answered, sighing. "Just tired and high-strung."

"Right, whatever," she continued brusquely. "The interesting question is rather: is there a chance that you might stab someone with a knife again?"

"…Perhaps," Negi admitted. There was no point denying it, really. That incident with Asuna had rattled him badly.

"That so? Right." He heard Asuna take a deep breath. "Now, you listen to me, Negi: I'm going to watch you, every step and every hour of the day. If I ever see you going crazy and trying to hurt someone again, I'll beat the utter _crap_ out of you until you stop. Understand?"

"…Is that a promise, Asuna-san?"

He could almost feel the glare of Asuna's mismatched eyes bore into his back. "Yes, it is."

Negi couldn't help but smile, and he relaxed, if only a little bit. "Thank you."

He heard Asuna harrumph in response, but she said nothing more as she turned back towards the wall in a rustle of bedcovers. Soon, her breathing eased into the light, regular pattern that the young teacher recognized as peaceful, untroubled sleep.

Negi closed his eyes, hoping he might find it too.

…

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?!_ was released by studio _Shaft_, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

Again, please support the official release, and be kind enough to leave a review.


	5. Chapter V – A Normal Life?

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Good day or good evening to you, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the next chapter of _The Oncoming Storm!_ Thank you very much for your kind reviews to the previous chapters; your enthusiasm was very much appreciated.

This chapter is mostly dialogue, exposition, and character development. I hope you'll forgive that this is more of an interlude than anything else, but the plot will pick up in the next chapter. Still, I'm having a lot of fun writing this story – I hope you like reading it!

By the way, I have recently started to watch the BBC television series Sherlock. Very, very enjoyable to watch. I now imagine that a teenage/adult Negi speaks with Benedict Cumbercatch's public-school-accented English, if only because that would would make even more girls swoon for him than before.

Please leave me a review – were there things you liked, things you disliked? Did you enjoy some parts, but not others? Were you entertained? Bored? Leave me some feedback, please! I can't really improve if you don't tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong.

I hope you had as much fun reading this story as I had writing it, and if you liked or disliked it, please leave a review.

...

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter V – A Normal Life?**

…

Negi moved out of the dormitory the next day.

The whole conversation he had with the Dean over his new lodgings were amusing, in a farcical way. He turned up an hour before homeroom would start – he'd been unable to sleep for more than a few hours, as usual – and asked to see Dean Konoemon. They sat across each other as Negi politely explained to him that it was his belief that rooming with his own students was completely inappropriate and simply a disaster waiting to happen.

When Konoemon hummed and hahed at Negi's words, stroking his beard and generally dithering around the question, apparently unwilling to have Negi room anywhere else but in the girls' dormitory with Asuna and Konoka, the young teacher absent-mindedly stated that if he wasn't given new lodgings, he'd have no choice but to pitch his tent on the front lawn of Mahora Academy.

My, what an embarrassment to the school _that_ would be, if everyone saw the institution's newest teacher, a foreign teenager, with no roof over his head, oh dear, oh dear; what would people _think_ of Mahora Academy?

Unsurprisingly, Dean Konoemon suddenly seemed quite agreeable to the idea of hammering out a compromise, and twenty minutes later, Negi was just on time to start homeroom for his second day of teaching, grinning to himself all the while.

That evening, he moved his things into an empty room on the second floor of the girls' dormitory. When Asuma and Konoka came by a few days later to visit for dinner (it had been Konoka's idea, and Asuna had reluctantly agreed because of her promise to watch over Negi), they found that the small room had suddenly expanded to thrice its size to make way for a large study and office, and a small, winding staircase led up to the next floor where Negi had installed his bed, a small kitchenette, and something he called his "workshop." A solid oak desk and a long table stood in the study, and the walls were now hidden behind large, polished bookshelves that reached from floor to ceiling. The whole room seemed bright, filled with the sunlight that shone through the large window that encompassed the far wall behind the desk.

When an awestruck Konoka asked him how he had managed to renovate the whole room that quickly, Negi just winked and dramatically whispered, "Magic."

The dean's granddaughter just laughed in delight at his little joke, though Asuna knew better. While Konoka excitedly inspected the spines of the few books in his still yawningly empty bookshelves, the redhead shot her teacher an angry glare. He simply shrugged, smiling disarmingly as he stepped closer.

"If you say the truth, Asuna-san," he spoke quietly into her ear as he clapped a hand on her shoulder, "the simple truth, no matter how improbable and outlandish it may be, then people will never believe you."

Naturally, of course, Konoka chose that moment to turn around, and, seeing the two of them stand close together, mercilessly teased them for the rest of the evening over dinner, much to their mutual embarrassment and Asuna's spirited denials.

For some reason, Asuna and Konoka found themselves occasionally having dinner over in Negi's small study until it became a regular fixture in their evenings. Negi certainly appreciated the company, considering he lived alone, and although his cooking was never as good as Konoka's (though certainly superior to Asuna's catastrophes, much to his redheaded student's annoyance and Negi's restrained amusement), he still welcomed the little distractions that their lively conversations at the dinner table offered. During class, Asuna would watch their new teacher like a hawk to make sure that he wouldn't hurt anyone else, but Negi's instinct to defend himself lethally never surfaced again.

In fact, he soon proved to be the most enthusiastic teacher that Class 2-A had ever seen. He arrived with a new lesson plan the next day, outlining exactly what he wanted to help them with over the next two years. He would hold entire conversations with his students in class, forcing them to actually speak English with him as he corrected their pronunciation, taking his time to properly explain things to the slower students and giving extra homework to those who were bored with the standard curriculum.

He assigned books to be read, taught remedial lessons for those who desperately needed them (the infamous "Baka Rangers" came to mind), and even organized film evenings after school so that his students could actually listen to the way English was spoken in America and Britain. He brought in poetry collections to be read aloud in class, asked for reports on his students' favourite books, the occasional American television show and movie they had recently seen, and showed the patience of a saint when it came to enduring and correcting his students' incredibly awful pronunciation.

He could understand the fact that the Japanese had a different set of syllables and pronounced them differently, but he couldn't help but wince when he heard the girls mangling the mother tongue he was so fond of. Still, they were slowly getting better.

Considering he was also the newest member of the faculty, he often found himself teaching many substitute classes. Instead of crumbling under the amount of work, however, Negi dove into it with indefatigable enthusiasm, and soon found himself greatly appreciated by his colleagues when their own workload threatened to swallow them whole – apparently, the young genius could teach various foreign languages, mathematics, sciences, and humanities as easily as he could English, and did it in a way that made the students actually _enjoy_ learning.

He had told Class 2-A on his second day of lessons that he would always lend an ear if they had any problems, be they school-related or personal, before extending the offer to all students of Mahora that were willing to take him up on it. The girls had laughed out loud at the idea – after all, Negi was still a teenager like them, and a boy too! How were they to take him seriously?

That opinion changed radically the day he arrived late to substitute a PE lesson for Class 2-A and found Asuna, Ayaka, and a few of the members of the senior dodgeball team at each other's throats. He bodily dragged the two groups apart and coldly demanded an explanation. When both parties had managed to mumble out their (highly edited) versions of events, he thoroughly berated both for nearly starting a fight over something as stupid as a sports court.

The image of the young teacher sternly glaring over his pince-nez at his thoroughly embarrassed students as he pointedly reminded them that they were expected to act like _adults_ soon was one that was difficult to forget.

A few of the students of Class 2-A missed their old teacher, Takahata – not the least Asuna, who still hadn't entirely forgiven Negi for replacing him, and those who wished Negi would give them less homework – but the results spoke for themselves: when the class entered the year's final exams, their grade average won them the first place in the school's competition.

Negi watched his class's impromptu celebration in the classroom with a mixed feeling of bewildered nostalgia and pride as he stood to the side, not really saying anything. However, he was soon dragged into 2-A's regular happy chaos by a scowling Asuna who demanded that he join them, laughing and joking alongside his students as they partied on.

Soon, Negi was a regular and easily recognizable fixture on the campus of Mahora Academy – tall, foreign, bespectacled, and eternally polite, he soon found himself affectionately nicknamed 'Professor Springfield' by his students for his dignified airs, a title which earned him a great ribbing from Chamo and Asuna. He took it in stride, joking about it with Takamichi and the other teachers over a cup of saké after hours, affecting a thick Oxford accent for his colleagues' general amusement.

Still, there was something… off about him. When he wasn't teaching a class or burying himself in work, he often stood at an open window, leaning on the sill and looking outside with a blank, distracted air. Those times he looked sad, tired and lost in thought, a melancholic look on his face that belied his age.

As soon as someone concernedly addressed him, though, he would flinch and snap out of his reverie, politely apologizing for his daydreaming. The other students wouldn't think twice about it, but Asuna grew suspicious, wondering whether this strange habit of his was connected to him being a mage, or perhaps something even more sinister. Negi was dangerous, she knew it – and there was something he was hiding.

Determined to protect her classmates, she decided to track down her only source of information on Negi once school was over for the day, as much as it galled her to.

God, how she _hated_ that perverted rodent.

…

Chamo blew out a long stream of smoke between his sharp teeth. "Nope."

Asuna blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm not gonna tell ye about aniki," Chamo repeated, grinning cheekily. "Nope, nada, nein. Geddit? His past is his own to tell, and no one else's. Now, if ye don't mind," he said, preparing to leap off the desk in Negi's study, "I gotta get me some pictures of a few local girls dallying along by the river in breezy summer clothes, oh yes, haven't done that in a long time—"

"Now," Asuna growled as she snatched the rodent by the scruff of the neck before he could make his getaway, holding him up to eye level and glaring, "_why_, exactly, won't you tell me what's wrong with Negi?"

"…Are you still mad because I stole your underwear from your drawers that night we met?" Chamo asked piteously as he squirmed in her grip.

Asuna's eyebrows twitched violently. "And the night after that. And the one after that as well. Why do you even _do_ that kind of stuff, anyway?! It's not as if you can wear them!"

"They make great bedsheets."

For a moment, Asuna forgot all about her initial question that she had cornered the ermine for, staring at him in befuddlement.

Chamo nodded sagely. "They are _incredibly_ comfy. That's why you wear them, right?"

"Ye— No! Don't try to change the subject, damn it!" she snapped, shaking the small animal violently. "Why won't you tell me about Negi?! At least give me a reason!"

"I got a reason for ye," Chamo said, his eyes trying to groggily focus on her as his head swirled. "It's none of yer damn business, that's what it is!"

"It _is_ my business," Asuna snarled, "if there's a chance of Negi going absolutely berserk and killing some of my friends, you furry old lecher!"

Chamo gaped at her, cigarette dropping out of his mouth. "Wait, what?!"

Asuna frowned, perplexed. "He nearly stabbed me with a knife the first night in my room! A nightmare or something! Didn't you _know_?"

"Well, blow me sideways," the ermine muttered to itself. "I thought he wasn't getting those nightmares anymore… Well, he's been getting more sleep lately, sure, but I didn't think it was _that_ bad, honest…"

"Oi! What are you talking about?"

"Nuffin'. Now listen here, sister," Chamo said harshly, glaring at her. The effect was diminished by the fact that he was still a small animal, no matter how much perverted sapience he showed, but his beady eyes were narrowed and serious in a gesture that was surprisingly human. "I understand that yer worried. That's to be commended – if anything, it shows ye care. But lemme tell you something important, alright?"

"Yeah?" she asked sceptically.

Chamo took a deep breath. "If Negi starts hurting someone, don't even _think_ about stepping between him and whoever was stupid enough to piss him off, okay?" He raised a paw, forestalling Asuna's indignant interruption. "Call me, that Takamichi feller, or Dean Konoemon if you can, but for the Erlking's sake, _get out of his way_ and take as many people as you can with you, and then run. Run like hell. If you try and stop him, you'll only get hurt too, understand?"

"But why?!" Asuna cried out, confusion on her face. "Why did he… _react_ like that?"

Chamo slammed his paw to his forehead, groaning. "Look, sister, I know you're probably just trying to help, but like I said, it's really none of yer business. It's _his_ past, so he gets to decide how to deal with it, alright? No meddling teenager is going to change that."

"I'm just trying to help!"

"That so?" Chamo asked, unimpressed. "Are you _sure_ you want to know about the horrors that gave Negi his nightmares? Are you prepared to know about _everything_ that twisted him into the man he is now? It's certainly not pretty, I can promise you that."

Asuna opened her mouth to say 'Yes!' before suddenly remembering the look of panic and violent strength in Negi's eyes when he had attacked her, followed by his abject horror when he recognized her. It had looked bestial, violent, and… well, _scary_.

She hesitated and Chamo sighed, dejected. "Knew it," the ermine muttered, wriggling in her grip. "Can't blame you, really, but it was worth a try…"

"Wait, damn it!" Asuna snapped, gripping harder and making the white-furred rodent squeak in pain. She ignored it as she fired off her questions. "What made him like that, Chamo? Was he ill, or did something happen to him, or—"

"Lots of things happened, girl," Chamo interrupted harshly, glaring at her. "You know he's a mage, right? Being able to wield powers that twist the laws of nature to your bidding can be a curse as much as a blessing. And bro never had an easy life to start with, what with his family and all. And then, of course, when you lose someone you care about—"

Chamo snapped his mouth shut, looking mortified at his slip of the tongue. Asuna mercilessly pounced on it. "He lost someone important to him? Who?"

"None of yer business. Now," Chamo spoke, his voice low and warning as he looked straight at her, "unhand me, girl, or you'll find yourself in more trouble than ye could possibly handle."

Asuna scoffed, unconvinced. "Oh? What can _you_ do?"

Chamo grinned toothily. "Well, for starters, I know when bro comes back home when he's done with paperwork after school."

And at that exact moment, the door swung open and Negi entered the study, chatting animatedly with someone over his shoulder. "Well, I'm actually quite glad that you asked that question. You see, the structure of a poem in English _can_ be defined by the number of syllables per line, like the number of kanji symbols in the line of a haiku, but they don't necessarily _have_ to b—" He stopped, raising an eyebrow at the scene before him. He sighed with weary annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, Asuna – did Chamo go riffling through your drawers again?"

Chamo suddenly bit down on her hand, making Asuna shriek and drop him to the ground. In a flash of white fur, he had run over to Negi and climbed onto his shoulder, giving his inquisitive tormentor the evil eye.

Asuna looked at the red splotch beginning to stain her hand, flabbergasted. "He bit me!"

"Really?" Negi tilted his head, frowning at the ermine sitting on his shoulder. "That's strange. He's usually far better behaved." _Voyeurism, petty theft, and amateur photography excepted, of course_, he neglected to add.

Chamo gave his master a toothy grin and a shrug. For a moment, they just stared at each other in silence. Negi looked away first, turning back to Asuna. "Careful what you look for, Kagurazaka-san," he said, smiling politely. "You might just find it."

Asuna suckled the deep bite on her hand, glaring back at him and wondering how on earth he knew what they had been talking about.

She looked away first, shuddering. Eerie.

The awkward silence was interrupted by a slow, disbelieving voice. "…Sensei, is that a _weasel_ on your shoulder?"

Negi chuckled as he turned around to face the Library Trio standing in the doorway, tickling Chamo's chin. "Well, technically, his species is called the stoat." He quickly drew back his finger as Chamo tried to snap down his sharp teeth on it, grinning at the severe look his familiar gave him. "Alright, alright… He prefers being called an ermine, actually. More noble, or something like that. He's my… pet, for lack of a better word."

Yue raised a cool eyebrow. "Should we be worried about him gnawing our toenails off, or is that just you?"

"Oh, he's far more accommodating to girls, for some reason," Negi said drily, holding out his arm towards them. Chamo ran along it, perching on his palm and tilting his head quizzically, blinking at the three students before him. A calculated display of cuteness. "Come in, come in. You can pet him, if you like. I'm sure he won't mind."

Nodoka, who had spent most of the walk to Negi's study hiding behind Yue and Haruna and just listening as the others bombarded their teacher with various questions and tried to have her join the conversation, shrank back with a terrified squeak when Chamo suddenly jumped from Negi's arm to land on her, snuggling against her neck.

When she realized that she wasn't getting her throat gnawed on or her eyes clawed out, she cautiously raised a hand and began petting the ermine's white fur. Chamo just grumbled, or purred, or made _some_ other unidentifiable noise of contentment, making himself comfortable on her shoulder.

"Aw, he _likes_ you, Honya-chan," Haruna teased, grinning. "How cute!"

"Careful, he might have rabies," Yue stated in her usual deadpan from the other end of the room. She had already walked over to Negi's bookshelf, idly looking through his still meagre collection of books.

"I don't think he does," Nodoka mumbled as she kept petting Chamo. "No flu, no anxiety, no confusion, no paralysis… He doesn't have any of the usual symptoms to be found in warm-blooded animals…"

Negi's eyes it up in interest. "Oh? How did you know about _that_, Miyazaki-san?"

Nodoka flushed a fierce red as she tried to speak clearly. "…I read it in a book on plagues that I found in the library?"

"And you were able to remember all those details?" Negi asked in disbelief. At her hesitant nod, he shook his head, amused. "Well, colour me impressed, Miyazaki-san. That's some trivia that might come in handy one day, you know."

"We haven't had a case of rabies in Japan since 1957, though…"

Negi shrugged, smiling. "Still, it might be useful. Who can tell?" He swiftly turned around, opening his leather briefcase and rummaging through it. "Now, where is that blasted poetry collection… Aha!" He triumphantly held up a thick book. "There! Now you can compare the standard poetry forms in English to those in Japanese, Akase-san! Does that answer your question?"

"Mind if you go through it with us for a bit, sensei?" Haruna interrupted, giving him a rather sly grin. "Considering we're not going to understand all of it, for starters."

Negi studied her for a long moment. "You're planning something," he accused her.

"Who, me?"

He looked at her suspiciously as the doujin artist did her best to look like an innocent schoolgirl. Negi didn't buy her act for a minute – he had quickly found out about Haruna's hobby (she wasn't being particularly subtle about it, after all, considering she was openly selling her work on the side), and decided after looking up the word 'doujin' on the internet that he wanted to steer clear as far as he could from the flaming wreckage. Admittedly, he was mildly surprised that there was still something out there that could shock him.

He grumbled. There had been _far_ too many tentacles in that image search, damn it. Takamichi had laughed at him for the rest of the day, and Chamo hadn't stopped mocking him for two weeks afterwards. What a mess.

"Fine," he muttered, throwing the book onto the study table and continuing to unpack his briefcase. "Get your notes on standard metre and verse out; this is probably going to take a while."

"Thanks, sensei!" Haruna singsonged, grinning widely as she bodily dragged Nodoka to sit her down next to him, much to the shy girl's horror. "You're the best!"

Negi rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but smile at her antics. "Why do I have a nagging feeling that I'm going to regret this?"

"Because you're paranoid," Asuna muttered, sucking on her bitten thumb.

"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you, you know," Negi chided amiably as he sat down at the table. "Care to join us, Asuna-san?"

"You know what?" Asuna huffed as she dragged over a chair, annoyed. "Fine. I've got nothing better to do, anyway."

Soon, the four students and their teacher were reciting poetry to each other and attempting to understand what, exactly, made an English poem different from a Japanese one. It was difficult and tiring work, but it was also fun. At least Nodoka seemed to think so – Asuna noticed that her voice never seemed to waver when she was reading someone else's writing, though she stuttered and mumbled when Negi tried to have her enter the conversation.

Negi was cordially stubborn, though, regularly asking her opinion on various little tidbits of the poems they were reading, and soon she was contributing quietly to the conversation. She still chose her words carefully, occasionally peeking up from her book to glance at Negi behind her bangs, red flushing her face when she thought he wasn't looking as he animatedly debated the importance of stressed and unstressed syllables in English poetry with Yue. Asuna and Haruna just listened, trying to keep up as much as they could, though Haruna took the whole thing with far more amusement than the annoyed redhead. And so it went on for quite a while.

The juice-addicted student frowned unhappily as she looked at the annotations she had had made to a poem by Longfellow. "This is far more difficult than I thought," she muttered, annoyed.

"Well, it's difficult to get the hang of if you're not used to the way that European languages are spoken," Negi agreed, smiling. "But other European languages have very similar patterns in their poetry. English, French, and Spanish poems all have the sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables in common, but they apply it differently—"

There was a loud knock on the door, and Negi blinked, confusedly checking his watch. "What on earth… Yes? Come in, please!"

The door opened, and a politely smiling young man stuck his head in. "Springfield-sensei?" He spotted the sitting students and the open books scattered on the table, coughing sheepishly. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"Seruhiko-sensei!" Negi said genially, his frown clearing up once he remembered his colleague's name. "Don't worry, nothing too important! Do come in, please. Can I perhaps offer you a cup of tea?"

"Thank you for your kind offer, Springfield-sensei, but no," the teacher answered, sidling into the room and sketching a polite bow to everyone present. "Dean Konoemon sent me. He has requested your presence in his office."

"Oh dear," Negi said, smiling good-naturedly. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"

Seruhiko smiled faintly. "Hardly. Apparently, someone wishes to speak to you."

Negi raised an eyebrow, his expression growing serious. "Is that so? Did the Dean mention any names?"

Seruhiko shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. "Unfortunately not. It's as much a mystery to you as it is to me."

"Well, mysteries are always interesting," Negi commented, throwing a look outside. The sun was already getting lower in the sky, so he threw on his overcoat and grabbed his staff, briskly walking over to join Seruhiko at the door. He paused for a moment, turning around. "I'm very sorry for abandoning you like this," he said quickly, smiling apologetically. "I truly am. If you like, keep reading a few poems to each other, and we'll go over them tomorrow in class. You're welcome to stay here until curfew, but!" He raised a finger in warning. "Don't enter my workroom. That room is off limits to all of you. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, sensei," his four students muttered with varying levels of enthusiasm.

Negi shook his head at their grimaces, chuckling. "Well, I'll see you later then." He stretched out his arm with a grin. "Back me up, old pal?"

The ermine leapt from Nodoka's lap and quickly jumped onto Negi's forearm and further up, settling on his shoulder and sitting up straight like an alert hunting dog. Negi laughed, only to get swatted upside the head by a white paw and have his good humour replaced by a chiding scowl.

"After you, Seruhiko-sensei," Negi said politely, and the door clicked shut behind them a moment later.

There was an awkward silence as the four students watched each other, not really knowing what to say or do. It was then that Asuna remembered that she didn't have much in common with the Library Trio. The three of them could be nice – well, Yue's blunt honesty and Haruna's mad schemes excepted – but they usually only saw each other in class or when passing each other in the corridors. Asuna had never liked books that much, preferring sports and getting things done quickly. Sitting rooted in one spot, doing nothing but reading one book at a time was something she had never really gotten used to.

She grumbled, annoyed with herself. No wonder her grades had never been the best, no matter how much Negi tried to improve them.

"So…" Haruna drawled, catching everyone's attention as she leaned back into her chair, crossing her arms and grinning mischievously. "Wanna take a look around here to see if we can find out something about Negi-sensei's past?"

Okay, Asuna corrected herself, perhaps they had _something_ in common.

…

"So, Seruhiko-sensei," Negi quietly addressed his colleague as they walked across the grounds of the school. "You really don't know anything about the Dean's visitor?"

Seruhiko shook his head, contrite. "I honestly don't, unfortunately. But with all the secrecy surrounding their arrival, he or she is probably from our world."

Negi frowned. A mage wishing to speak to him? Well, things were just getting stranger and stranger. "…How did they know I was _here_, of all places?" he wondered out loud. "I covered my tracks pretty well."

"Begging your pardon?"

"Ah, sorry." Negi snapped out of his thoughts. "How are things on your end, then?"

The young teacher's shoulders slumped. "There's been another attack in the Kansai prefecture," he said morosely. "Three dead, about half a dozen wounded. The Kansai Branch of the Magic Association has blamed it on the rampage of a Western mage, but so far the evidence is inconclusive."

Negi didn't envy his colleague's situation. Seruhiko was a mage as well, and quite skilled for his age. From what he had been told, he had always been moderately talented, intelligent, and had worked hard to surpass his own limitations to become a skilled magister magus and a trusted researcher under Dean Konoemon. He had specialized in exploring the numerous possibilities of combining modern mundane technology with magic, once jokingly chiding Takamichi that 'battle magic is not something most people have a knack for, you know.'

Still, having to keep track of all the discord and infighting between the various magical associations and their branches in Japan was a task that Negi hoped wouldn't be pushed off on him. It seemed like exhausting work, not to mention depressing.

"They're blaming the Westerners again? On what grounds?"

Seruhiko shrugged, tired. "I have no idea, unfortunately. I managed to pick up a few rumours saying that witnesses reported seeing some sort of powerful beast attacking the latest victims."

"A beast? What, a magical one?"

"Some sort of wolf, apparently." Seruhiko scowled, annoyed. "You'd _think_ that would exclude most Western mages as suspects, considering that summoning creatures isn't exactly our forte, but apparently the Easterners are easily riled up. There's been more anti-Western rhetoric coming out of Osaka and Kyoto, and us mages from Kanto are getting understandably nervous. The Dean has contacted their leader, but communication has been spotty at best." The teacher sighed. "Heaven knows what's really going on, because we surely don't. It's a right mess."

Negi snickered, though there was no humour in his voice. "I was never too fond of politics. Far too hysterical for my liking."

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry, Springfield-sensei," Seruhiko apologized. "I didn't mean to burden you with my troubles."

"Don't mind me. I was the one who asked, after all."

They soon reached the Dean's office, and Seruhiko politely excused himself. As Negi entered the well-furnished office, Dean Konoemon looked up from his steaming cup of tea, his expression brightening. "Ah, Negi-sensei," he greeted him. "Do forgive an old man for inconveniencing you at this late hour, but it was rather urgent."

"You are the one paying my salary, if I recall correctly," Negi said drily. "As long as that doesn't change, you can summon me whenever you like."

Konoemon nodded serenely. "Indeed. I believe you two already know each other?"

Negi blinked as a diminutive figure rose from the armchair opposite the Dean's desk and turned to face him, though he frowned a moment later when he recognized her. "Why, hello there. You've been skipping class for two weeks now. No homework either. Very unkind of you, I must say."

Evangeline's lips curled in a cruel little smile that didn't bode well for him _at all_. "Believe me, Son of the Thousand Master," the little blonde purred, her icy blue eyes dancing wickedly, "that is the _least_ of your problems right now."

…

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?!_ was released by studio _Shaft_, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

Again, please support the official release, and be kind enough to leave a review.


	6. Chapter VI – Interview With A Vampire

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Good day or good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the next chapter of _The Oncoming Storm_!

Thank you for all the kind reviews, and a big thank you to all the others who read this and the other stories I've published. Over a hundred of you have listed me as one of your favourite authors - you have no idea how happy that makes me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In case any of you are surprised that this came out so quickly, don't be. This chapter just begged me to be written, to the exclusion of everything else that I originally planned on writing. Very irritating, especially when I wanted to update my _Familiar of Zero_ Crossover first. My muse is weird like that. Or perhaps it was just Eva demanding that I write about her. Who knows?

In any case, don't expect quick updates. I am back at university, and I have a lot of things to do and learn, not to mention that I want to update my other stories as well if I get the time.

However, this chapter is interesting for a number of reasons. One, of course, being Eva's and Negi's first meeting. Two, you'll find hints to what other universes I've crossed this story over with. And three...

Well, see for yourself.

I hope you had as much fun reading this story as I had writing it. Whether you liked or disliked it, please leave a review.

...

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter VI – Interview With A Vampire**

…

"Negi-sensei," Dean Konoemon spoke up, "if you could just take a seat—"

"Headmaster, thank you very much for bringing this matter to my attention," Negi interrupted him politely and firmly. "Don't worry. This is part of my job, after all. Young lady," he continued, turning back towards Evangeline and frowning. "You should know that I am _very_ disappointed in you."

Evangeline just stared at him, looking thrown.

"You've been skipping class for two weeks now," Negi went on, glaring sternly at her. "You've missed a lot of important lessons, not to mention that you haven't done your homework as well. In all honesty, this is just disgraceful behaviour. My, what would your parents think of you if they saw you slack off in your studies?"

Evangeline didn't even blink as she kept staring at him, her mouth opening and closing like that of a fish. Dean Konoemon knotted his hands, supporting his arms on the top of his desk, hiding his mouth as he started to shake in his seat.

"Just think!" Negi continued earnestly. "This is the time when you're supposed to prepare yourself for adulthood! What kind of adult could you possibly become if we can't instil some good values and habits at an early age?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Evangeline ground out, her blue eyes angry and annoyed. "What on _earth_ are you talking about?!"

"Young lady, haven't you been listening?" he demanded. "You've been missing class!"

"You _idiot_!" the tiny girl screeched, face reddening an interesting colour. "Missing class?! That's _not_ what we're here to discuss!"

It was Negi's turn to blink in confusion, and he glanced at the headmaster. "It isn't?"

"NO! The _nerve_ of you, you stupid, idiotic upstart bastard son of a—"

"And a pottymouth too," Negi said, scandalized. "What is the youth of today coming to?"

Evangeline charged at him with a screech. "I'll _GIVE_ you _youth_, you _brainless little arseh_—"

"That's quite enough, Eva-chan," Dean Konoemon interrupted, trying very hard to hide his wide, undignified grin behind his hands and failing. "I'm sure that Negi-kun meant well."

"I'LL KILL HIM ANYWAY!" Evangeline shrieked as Negi simply put his arm out in front of him, stopping her dead in her tracks as her forehead slammed right into his palm, easily keeping the far smaller girl at bay. Her arms windmilled as she nevertheless tried to pummel him, struggling against his hold.

Negi frowned, shaking his head sadly. "I'm terribly sorry, headmaster; had I known that my class had such disciplinary problems—"

"That's alright, Negi-sensei," Dean Konoemon said quickly. "Eva-chan, if you could please calm down for just a moment…"

The tiny girl took a deep breath, collecting herself and stepping back. "Fine!" she snapped, marching back to her armchair and sat down, crossing her arms and legs in a huff. "In any case, I still think that this whole idea of yours is _stupid_, old man. Utterly preposterous."

Negi just stared from one to the other, more perplexed than he had ever been in his life. "What idea?"

The Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Ahem. Evangeline-san here has a slight problem, and we thought that you might be able to help her."

"Are we talking about her delinquency?" Negi asked carefully, taking a seat in another armchair. "I mean, I can always give her detention, if you want—"

"You're doing this on purpose," Evangeline muttered darkly, glowering at him. "There's no _way_ in the seven hells that you are this thick."

Negi frowned at her. "You know, you could just tell me what your problem actually _is_. Me knowing what on earth's going on might be more productive than throwing a temper tantrum. Just a possibility, mind."

"Temper tantrum?" Evangeline seethed. "Oh, I am going to _murder_ you, boy. Slowly and painfully."

Negi raised his other eyebrow. "If you're trying to inspire me to help you with your problem, young lady, you're failing. Just thought you might want to know."

"Evangeline-san," the Dean interrupted quickly, "is subject to a particularly powerful curse, has been for quite a few years now. Our efforts to remove it have all been unsuccessful, unfortunately. We hoped you might be able to help."

"I beg your pardon? I've only been a magister for little over a year, and curses aren't exactly my area of expertise. You have dozens of far more experienced magister at your disposal in Mahora, don't you?" Negi frowned at him, perplexed as a detail hit. "Hold on just a minute. Even _your_ efforts failed, Dean?"

"To my shame, yes," Konoemon admitted, looking rather chagrined.

"What makes you think _I_ might be able help with that curse, then?"

"For starters," Evangeline said snidely, "your father was the one who cursed me."

Negi stilled, his knuckles clenching violently on the armrests of his chair. "…I beg your pardon?"

"Your father, boy," Evangeline said disdainfully. "You know, Nagi Springfield? The Thousand Master? The Great—"

"The Thousand Master, the Great Destroyer, the Saviour and Bane of the World," Negi finished, his eyes sharp as they cut across Evangeline, pinning her with their sudden, cold intensity. "I know _exactly_ who he is, Evangeline-san."

Evangeline raised an eyebrow at his sharp tone, surprised by his sudden vehemence. Those eyes were quite… _different_ from those of his father.

"Now," Negi said quietly, looking her up and down with. Just a moment ago, he had been looking at her like he would have at one of his students, but now his mind was running at a hundred miles an hour as he analysed her like he would a potential enemy. "My father might have been a fool, but he would never have put a curse on someone without a valid reason. Especially not on a girl as young as you."

Evangeline scoffed, leaning back into her armchair. "I'm over six hundred years old, boy."

"…How _interesting_," Negi pronounced after a moment. "When I first came to this school, I used a spell to see whether any of my students were able to use magic. No one in Class 3-A stuck out against the natural background magic, even as elevated as it is in the city because of the World Tree. Least of all you, Evangeline-san." His eyes narrowed at her. "And yet you know that I am a mage, you know of our customs, our secrets, and the legends of our world, and yet you're not a mage…"

Evangeline smirked, amused. "Not bad. You're correct on all points, boy, except the last one."

"So you _are_ a mage? But I can't sense any power emanating from you…" Negi's eyes narrowed. "It's been sealed, hasn't it? Some sort of magic-suppression curse that only affects you and no one else?"

"Impressive, Negi-kun," the Dean pronounced, honest amazement in his voice. "That's entirely correct."

"But those spells generally need an anchor to take effect, especially the more powerful ones…" He threw a quick glance at the Dean. "May I assume that Evangeline-san is bound to remain in Mahora Academy?"

"Oh, you have _no idea_," Evangeline snarled, sudden anger in her voice as she glared. "I haven't left this damn school for fifteen. Years! I am sick and tired of being cooped up here with all these brainless children!"

"A curse that binds one person to a specific location and simultaneously suppresses their magical abilities entirely and not only in part," Negi muttered, lost in thought and drumming his fingers on the armrests of his chair. "The curse has continued to work for over fifteen years, so that means that it is either self-perpetuating or uses an external power source…"

His eyes suddenly cleared, focusing sharply on Evangeline. "I can think of a few curses that fit all the criteria, but I can make an educated guess. It's _Infernus Scholasticus_, isn't it? The Scholar's Hell."

"My, but you _are_ a clever one," Evangeline said mockingly, smirking at him as she reclined in her chair. "Correct, boy. That's exactly it."

"But that spell is rarely used these days," Negi said quietly, his red-brown eyes never leaving her icy blue ones as he pondered the situation. "It's archaic and wasteful. It's only really useful on extremely powerful magical beings, but none of them usually assume human form…"

The blood suddenly drained from his face and his eyes widened in shocked realization. Evangeline's grin grew slightly wider, exposing sharp white fangs. "Oh yes, little boy. I see you already know."

"A vampire," Negi said in quiet disbelief. "You're a _vampire_?"

Evangeline joined her hands, clapping slowly. "Bravo, magister!" she cackled, grinning ecstatically. "I see that you have inherited your father's brilliance!"

"Don't you even _dare_ compare me to my father," Negi interrupted harshly, looking at her with cold anger. "If you only want to insult me, Evangeline-san, I can always leave."

Evangeline's smirk fell away, to be replaced with an expression of thoughtful puzzlement. "Oh? That's interesting," she mused aloud. "You're not really fond of your father, are you?"

"My father was an idiot and a fool," Negi said icily. "I am neither."

Evangeline considered him for a moment. "Interesting," she repeated.

Negi leant forwards in his seat, his usually warm eyes cold and intense. "Now, what kind of vampire are you? Red Court, perhaps? No, you're obviously not wearing a flesh mask. What a messy business _that_ would be, too, the janitors would surely complain about the bloodstains. But you're not Black Court, either, or else you'd burn up like a crisp on the way to school. White Court? No, no, you're the furthest thing from a succubus imaginable…"

"Are you trying to insult me, boy?" Evangeline spat out, her face twisting in a sneer of disgust. "Don't you dare compare me with those pathetic, mindless _beasts_ that crave nothing but blood and power, following their base instincts and playing their little games in their little worlds that amount to _nothing_! Disgraceful weaklings, the lot of them!"

Negi blinked, surprised. "You don't answer to any of the courts? Another sire, perhaps?"

Evangeline's blue eyes blazed with anger. "Choose your words wisely, boy. I answer to no one."

"And yet here you are, still alive after your magic has been completely suppressed," Negi said aloud, frowning. "Vampires aren't supposed to be able to survive without blood or magic, so how is that even possible?" The answer hit him like a ton of bricks, and he buried his face in his hands. "Oh, you have _got_ to be joking."

"What, boy?"

"Please tell me that my father wasn't stupid enough to try and put a curse on a Dead Apostle Ancestor," Negi begged, his voice muffled by his palms. "_Please_."

"Not just any Ancestor," Evangeline chimed in, and he could _hear_ the smirk in her voice. "Evangeline A.K. McDowell, one of the twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, no less."

Negi gave a small moan of despair, burying his head deeper in his palms. "Empty Night, help us all."

Konoemon chuckled as Evangeline looked on with barely concealed amusement. "When your father brought Evangeline here, I think he told me something along the lines of 'It's only stupid if it doesn't work.'"

"He _would_ have said that," Negi groused, looking up blearily. "It seems to have been his motto in life, after all."

Evangeline gave a small laugh, and its childlike sound clashed with the faint, knowing, undeniably _adult_ smile she wore as she reminisced. "Oh, it certainly was. Charming, really, to find someone who only saw life in black and white…"

"Charming? Oh, I'm sure," Negi said with all the sarcasm he could muster. "Now, why, exactly, did my father put such an elaborate curse on you? Well, except for the little detail of you being a bloodsucking, mass-murdering immortal vampire." He paused, tapping his chin. "On second thought, perhaps that's reason enough."

Evangeline flashed him a grin full of sharp teeth. "Think you're funny, don't you?"

"No, sarcasm is my last refuge in this absurd situation," he answered drily. "Of course, I could turn into a gibbering, neurotic mess and roll around on the floor babbling insanely to myself, but I generally like keeping my mental faculties. Now, are you going to answer my question or not?"

Evangeline grumbled, mumbling something under her breath as she deliberately looked away from him. Negi frowned, leaning closer. "Sorry, didn't catch that."

"…I kept following him."

Negi stared at the small vampire, utterly dumbfounded. "…Begging your pardon?"

"I met him once by accident, and he saved my life, not knowing that I was immortal," she recounted unwillingly. "He didn't seem to mind that I was a vampire, so I wanted to keep him company. He didn't mind at first, but then he got annoyed…"

"And then?"

"I offered to turn him." She laughed quietly, a faint smile now playing around her mouth. "He refused, of course, but I kept following him anyway, hoping I could convince him to change his mind. He didn't, and he demanded I leave him alone. I refused, and so we fought. He won, and he cursed me." She looked up at Negi, her eyes defiant, and for a moment, she honestly looked like a ten-year-old child caught in an embarrassing mishap. "And then he left me here. End of story."

"…You're telling me that you stalked my father, and he hit you with an overpowered curse normally used on godlike magical creatures because you got on his nerves once too often," Negi said flatly. Evangeline scowled, but she didn't contradict him.

Negi took off his pince-nez, furiously kneading the bridge of his nose. "Right," he muttered to himself. "For all his faults, at least I can rest comfortably knowing that my father wasn't a paedophile. Huzzah for that."

"One of these days, boy," Evangeline growled, her eyebrow twitching, "that loose tongue of yours is going to get you killed."

"Says the six-hundred-year-old and currently powerless vampire that got tricked by a twenty-something dunce who was apparently so thick that he had to use cliff notes for his spellcasting," Negi retorted, rolling his eyes. "But I digress. So what do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Evangeline asked crossly. "Remove the curse, of course!"

"Aha, aha," Negi said flatly. "No."

"What?!" Evangeline snapped, sitting up ramrod straight in her seat and glaring at the young mage. "And why not?!"

Negi gave her a severe look as he returned his glasses to their rightful place. "I thought we had already established the whole 'blood-sucking, mass-murdering immortal vampire' bit that makes me a tad leery of freeing you, but I could be wrong."

Evangeline snarled, looking as if she was sorely tempted to leap straight at him and throttle him where he stood, curse be damned. "You infuriating, loathsome little _imbecile_—"

"Besides," Negi continued, holding up a hand to forestall any attempts on his life by a tiny vampire, "I don't know if I even _can_ remove that curse from you."

Evangeline stilled, her eyes narrowing at him. "Explain. Now."

"Well, aren't we being polite today," Negi muttered. "The Scholar's Hell is an incredibly dangerous spell for a number of reasons. Just setting up the runic framework and hexagram usually takes a fair while, not to mention all the necessary equations and safeguards to prevent any backlash to the user himself—"

"Equations? Safeguards?" Evangeline repeated, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Your father didn't use any of those. He just cast the spell from his little book, and there I was, imprisoned." She tilted her head, frowning. "What's the long face for, boy? Are you ill? You're awfully pale, you know."

"…No equations?" Negi squeaked, his voice unusually high-pitched. "No basic framework? No runes? No safeguards _at all_?" At Evangeline's mute shake of her head, his jaw dropped in absolute horror. "How in the _hell_ did he manage not to blow the two of you into tiny little pieces?!"

Evangeline leant back, her head askance. "Was that a possibility?"

"Of course it was! Infernus Scholasticus requires exact preparation to be cast safely! If he had failed a spell of that magnitude, he could have easily levelled the entire school district and scattered the two of you over a few square miles! And yet he pulled it off with no trouble at all? _How?!_"

The Dean raised a wrinkled hand. "…Dumb luck?" he suggested mildly.

"Dumb luck," Evangeline and Negi muttered in unison, scowling at each other a moment later.

Negi shook his head, annoyed. "Sounds just like him. Well, alright, back to the subject at hand. Infernus Scholasticus has one element that is absolutely essential for it to work. It's called a blood key."

"I remember that," Konoemon said, thumbing his chin thoughtfully. "It's rather old magic, isn't it? Like an individual activation keyword to cast spells, but using blood instead…"

"Are you done explaining things any time soon?" a voice chimed in from one arm of Eva's chair. "I'm booooored."

Negi blinked slowly. "Please tell me that I wasn't the only one who heard that," he said carefully. "A straightjacket wouldn't suit me."

Evangeline's eyebrow twitched as she yanked up a small puppet by its fake green hair, glaring at it. "Chachazero, do me a favour and shut the hell up."

"But I'm bored, Master!" the puppet whined piteously. "All you do is talk, talk, talk! Where's the blood, the fight scene, the action?! Why don't you just drain all of his blood like you said you would, mistress? Paint the walls red! The office seems ugly enough!"

Negi shifted slowly, making sure his staff was in easy reach. "Should I be worried about that thing, or should I just shoot myself in the head before this situation gets any weirder?"

"Yes, please!" the puppet said brightly, turning towards him and staring at him with blank eyes and a wide grin. "Please shoot yourself in the head! It'd be very funny!"

"Um, no," Negi replied, thoroughly disturbed. For lack of a better thing to distract the creepy puppet, his hand quickly reached out and snatched a quivering Chamo. "…Would you like to meet a new friend? Have a familiar-to-familiar chat, sort of?"

"Oooh," Chachazero said, her green eyes staring at the struggling ermine what what appeared to be lustful fascination. "Sexay…"

_Bro, save me!_ the ermine called out in absolute terror, unable to even speak normally.

_Sorry, Chamo_, his friend answered guiltily. _I owe you, alright? _

Soon, the two familiars were sitting off to the side with hastily poured thimbles of tea, Chamo starting up a hesitant conversation and the puppet… _flirting_ back?!

Negi dragged his eyes away from the incongruous sight, giving Evangeline a flat look. "This is the last time we're getting distracted." He slapped his palms to his cheeks. "Blood key. Right. A blood key is a unique signature used in magic as a component for a spell. Some of the researchers at the Magic Association in London think it is somehow linked to each person's unique DNA sequence, but—"

"You're getting distracted again, boy," Evangeline warned. "And I know all this drivel already, so get to the point."

"You'd think you'd have gained some patience after six hundred years, no? Well, since you already know the details, I'll put it plainly." Negi folded his hands, looking her dead in the eye. "Considering that the Scholar's Hell is keyed to him alone, the only person who could lift the curse would be the Thousand Master himself."

Konoemon sighed. "I feared so. Evangeline had a different opinion, but it was a far-fetched thing to consider…"

Evangeline considered the young teacher before her, drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair. "Are you absolutely _sure_ you can't do anything, boy?"

"Me?" The young mage scoffed. "My father left no notes on the specifics of that particular spell he used, and from what you tell me, he apparently wasn't kind enough to use the basic setup either. I have no idea where to even _start_ untangling this mess, Miss McDowell, even if I wanted to."

"You're his son, aren't you? Shouldn't the blood key be similar?"

"…Perhaps," Negi conceded reluctantly, though he shrugged in exasperation. "DNA doesn't exactly work that way, but… Then again, it's _magic_, so who really knows how it works?"

"How about you drain all of his blood, Master?" Chachazero called out from the other end of the room, grinning madly. "Perhaps that will work!"

"Thank you very much, but no," Negi said firmly, growing increasingly worried at the calculating look on Evangeline's face. "I think we can all agree that listening to the homicidal puppet of a mass-murdering vampire known as the 'Queen of Darkness' falls under the general heading of 'bad idea.'"

"So, are you going to even _try_ to help me, boy?" Evangeline asked after a moment's contemplation, watching him sharply.

Negi blew a lock of red hair out of his face, sighing. "…No."

"Oh?" Evangeline asked, her still childlike voice growing dangerously quiet. "Why not?"

"Because you're the Dark Evangel," Negi explained clinically, not flinching under her scrutiny. "The Doll Master, the Lady of Darkness, the Tidings of Evil, and the Disciple of Dark Tomes. I know that during the Hundred Years' War, you used to regularly massacre entire armies sent to kill you. _Alone_. You've dabbled in some of the darkest magics imaginable, broken many of our laws without thinking twice about it, and the Wardens and Enforcers of Magic Association, not to mention the Burial Agency of the Church – they all have lost count of how many mages and mundanes you've killed."

For a moment that seemed to last forever, no one spoke. A soft pattering filled the office as rain began to clatter against the window, the clouds having silently snuck up without anyone noticing.

Negi looked up, meeting her darkening gaze head-on. "I'm not a fool, Evangeline-san. I'm not a hero like my father – I don't think I ever _will_ be, to be honest – but freeing you? No. I'll never unleash another horror like that upon the world. I'd rather have you here as my student than out there as a monster, free to roam and kill as you wish."

The young mage rose to his feet, bowing politely at a dismayed Dean. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it's getting rather late, and I still have a lesson to plan tomorrow. Dean, Miss McDowell."

He picked up his staff, nodding at a stony-faced Evangeline, and made to move past her armchair towards the door until her hand shot out, grabbing the sleeve of his suit. He halted, glancing down in surprise at Eva's small, prettily manicured fingers. The little vampire itself wasn't looking at him.

"You know," she spoke suddenly, her voice even and toneless. Dead. "When you first walked into that classroom last year, my heart nearly stopped. You see, I thought you were _him_, or at least an apparition that had come to taunt me from beyond the grave. Imagine my… disappointment when it turned out I was wrong."

Negi didn't dare speak. Her grip was light, he realized, like that of the ten-year-old child she had been cursed to remain.

Evangeline threw back he head, barking out a laugh as she looked up at him. "You look so much like him, it's… it's _terrifying_, you know. I really did love him. And seeing you masquerade around in his guise, rejecting me once more," and here the fingers on her sleeve balled into a fist, making him wince in surprise as her eyes darkened, "is the most horrible thing you could ever have done to me."

Negi sighed, looking down helplessly at her. "…I'm not my father," he said bitterly, opening her hand with gentle fingers of his own, making sure not to hurt her. Only then did he realize she looked fragile and vulnerable. Like one of her many dolls. "People always seem to mistake me for him. I'm not the hero he was."

"I realized," Evangeline said glacially, violently snatching her hand away. "_He_ would have helped me without asking questions."

Negi shrugged. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. I only met him once, you know." A small smile quirked Negi's mouth, and his eyes were sad. "I've never felt safer – and more terrified – in my entire life."

"Negi-kun," the Dean interrupted, hurriedly rising to his feet. "Please, would you reconsider—"

"Goodnight, Dean Konoemon," Negi said clearly, smiling over his shoulder at the dismayed headmaster. "I'll see you at the next faculty meeting, I suppose. Miss McDowell." He turned towards the corner of the room, still smiling. "Goodnight as well, Karakuri-san. You don't ever need to hide from me, you know."

"Ah." A sound that might have been surprise or a simple breath, and then the tall, green-haired gynoid appeared from the shadows of the office, bowing politely in a fluid movement that was far too picture-perfect to be entirely human. "I'm sorry. Goodnight, Negi-sensei."

"Chamo," Negi said sternly, and the ermine sitting at its miniature coffee table jumped in surprise. "We're leaving."

"Awww," Chachazero complained. "Already?"

"Sorry, doll," Chamo said, grinning at the maniacally grinning puppet, pulling on his cigarette. "Master calls. You know the drill."

"I know, I know," the puppet sighed. "My mistress seems nicer than yours, though. Less boring, for starters."

Chamo's ferrety face twisted in a grimace that might have been sadness, anger, and regret all at once, but the casual observer couldn't exactly make out what. "Nope, Chacha-chan." He leapt onto Negi's shoulder, patting his friend's ear affectionately. "Sweetest boy you could ever ask for, I tell ye. Wouldn't want to change him for the world."

Negi chuckled, and the sound was warm and genuine again. "Come on, you old rogue. I'm knackered, and my bed's calling to me."

"Sounds good to me, pal. Lead the way."

And then the door clicked shut behind them, leaving the two mages and the two puppets alone.

The Dean sat back down, sighing wearily. "This is worse than I expected."

"What, you old fool?" Evangeline sneered. "The boy's state, or my curse?"

The Dean looked up at her, his eyes tired. "Both."

Evangeline's face fell, and she nodded curtly, for once not disagreeing with her jailor. "Something broke him. Or someone." She settled herself back in her chair, wrapping her arms around herself. "His eyes…"

"You noticed?"

The True Ancestor laughed; a high-pitched, hysterical sound that didn't fit her childish guise at all. "Of course!" she giggled, wiping tears from her eyes. "Six hundred years of life on this wretched earth, and you'll learn to spot those who've seen death well enough!"

"He came from Mundus Magicus," Konoemon said slowly. "And he was a peacekeeper for five years. It's really no surprise."

"Eh?" Evangeline spoke up, perplexed. "I though the Great War ended fifteen years ago?"

Konoemon nodded morosely. "The first one, perhaps. The second one? No."

Chachamaru moved slightly. With anyone else, Evangeline would have assumed that they were surprised or curious, but her servant was only a doll. No emotions there. "I beg your forgiveness, Dean Konoemon," the robot spoke, her voice as stilted and formal as ever. "But what war are you referring to?"

_Huh_, Evangeline thought idly as she glanced at her servant. Chachamaru asking questions about someone else? That hadn't happened before. Interesting.

Konoemon answered before the vampiress herself could. "The Second Great War of Mundus Magicus," he said quietly, his voice tired and resigned. "Where the Empire of Hellas and the Union of Megalomesembria fought their way across the magical world, killing millions in the process."

"So what?" Chachazero piped up. "Sounds awesome!"

The Dean ignored the deranged puppet, smiling thinly at its taller sister that still didn't seem to quite understand.

"The war caused by the actions of the Thousand Master," he explained quietly. "The war that only ended last year. And where Negi earned his new name."

"A new name?" Evangeline asked, curious despite herself. "A moniker, you mean?"

The Dean chuckled. "It's not quite as impressive as your collection, Evangeline, but it did strike terror in many a heart, from what I've heard."

He stood up, stepping up to his window to see Negi walk across the school grounds towards the dormitories, the collar of his coat thrown up to protect him against the pouring rain, its tail flapping with the strong gusts of wind as leaves were picked from the trees, whirling around the small figure.

"The Oncoming Storm," Konoemon said as he watched Negi disappear in the gloom of the night, the words tasting strange on his tongue. "Doesn't seem to fit him at all, does it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Evangeline answered, baring sharp white fangs as she smiled. "I think it suits him perfectly."

…

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?!_ was released by studio _Shaft_, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

Again, please support the official release, and be kind enough to leave a review.


	7. Chapter VII – Masquerade

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Good day or good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the seventh chapter of _The Oncoming Storm!_

I've only recently realized that the last time I updated this story was well over two months ago. I would absolutely love to say that this was in any way deliberate and planned, but then I would be a barefaced liar. The truth is that I was simply swamped with work, studies, and (occasionally) updating my other stories. Really, there was not much else I could do, as irritating as it was. I'm sorry about that.

In any case, thank you very much for your reviews, favourites, follows, and just reading this story of mine. It really motivated me to keep writing. And above all, thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter.

Now, most of my reviewers got the references to the crossover elements well enough. It seems that I was being clear enough, thank goodness. You'll have noticed that some elements of the _Nasuverse_ by Kinoko Nasu and _The Dresden Files_ by Jim Butcher have been mentioned. They will play an important role in the backstory and world building of this story, and some characters will certainly appear.

However, if any of you are worried that they will take the story's focus away from Negi and Class 3-A, don't be. This is a story about Negi and his class. They're far too fascinating characters not to use, though characters from these other story universes might make the occasional appearance. Nothing to fret over, I assure you.

Fewer reviewers understood the reference I had going with the story's title, so congratulations to those who figured it out. 'The Oncoming Storm' is the nickname of the Tenth Doctor (brilliantly portrayed by David Tennant) in the revival of the BBC series _Doctor Who_. I thought the nickname would equally fit the gentlemanly, British, and wind- and lightning-wielding Negi Springfield. However, _this is not a Doctor Who crossover_. That would be too much to handle. The title is just a reference.

Although I do imagine Negi wearing the Tenth Doctor's awesome brown overcoat when he's out and about. He wears something similar in canon _Negima_ when he goes around in his older guise, after all, and it fits him. Wish I had one of those.

Right, enough babbling. This chapter is twice as long as usual and perhaps excessively detailed, but I hope you like it. I'm not too sure when the next chapter will come out – I have exams, so I can't promise anything – so just keep your eyes peeled in a month or two!

And if anyone can work out the identity of Negi's mystery girl (oh yes, she's an existing character from one of the three universes I mentioned), I'll give you an internet cookie and marvel at your observational skills.

I hope you had as much fun reading this story as I had writing it. Whether you liked or disliked it, please leave a review.

…

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter VI – Masquerade**

…

"Not that I mind you guys helping me out," Asuna grumbled as they started to look around their teacher's study. "But you think you could at least tell me _why_ you seem so interested in Negi? I mean, I always see the three of you in remedial lessons for English, and I know that at least two of you," she shot an annoyed glance at Nodoka and Haruna, "sure as hell don't need it."

"Oh, that one's easy enough to explain," the doujin artist said offhandedly as she tried opening the drawers on Negi's oaken desk, with little success. "Nodoka has a huge crush on Negi, and we're trying to hook the two of them up."

"_What?!_"

"P-paru!" Nodoka squeaked, her face (or what was visible of it under her concealing bangs of hair, at least) blushing a furious red. "You can't just tell people things like that!"

"Ah, why the hell not?" Haruna demanded, smirking mischievously at her flustered friend and sauntering closer. "But you know I'm happy for you, don'tcha? You were always so quiet, so reserved, and I was scared that you'd never be able to fish yourself a good catch if you didn't grow out of your shell a bit! And then you _finally_ got a crush on someone! Someone cool, too!" Haruna leant forward, her hands on her hips and her eyes dancing giddily. "You know, for years I was worried that you'd become a bibliophile in the overly _literal_ sense of the word, but then—"

That was as far as she got until Yue slammed a heavy tome over the back of her head, driving her to the floor and shutting her up.

"Embarrassing Nodoka about her first crush in front of classmates, Haruna," the small student lectured, weighing the surprisingly heavy tome in her hands as an absolutely mortified Nodoka and Asuna watched on in horror, "is _not_ acceptable. Are we clear on this?"

"Ow…" Haruna moaned, stumbling to her feet and rumbling the lump that was beginning to form on the back of her head, glaring at Yue. "Damn it, girl! Why do you always have to be so _violent_ about these thin—"

Yue brought down the book again, pre-emptively silencing her friend's furious tirade. "Also," the Baka Ranger continued calmly as Haruna collapsed once again, mumbling incoherently to herself, "using seafood and fishing metaphors for relationships is not acceptable, either."

"Yes, O Mistress of the Heavy Brick," Haruna groaned, getting up and swaying as she stood on her feet, her eyes unfocused. "No seafood. I understand perfectly. I hate seafood now."

"Um, not that I want to spoil your fun, or anything," Asuna spoke up cautiously, "but I don't think we came here for the slapstick comedy."

Yue nodded, carefully replacing the book to its rightful place on Negi's bookshelf. "True enough. How about you take Paru and have a look upstairs? Perhaps you'll find something interesting."

"Why do _I_ have to take her?" Asuna protested, shooting an annoyed look at Haruna, who stood there with a silly grin on her face and generally looking as if she had recently come back from the dentist's.

"If you want to sort through all these books with us, you're quite welcome to," Yue said drily, waving vaguely at the tall bookshelves behind her. "Otherwise…"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Asuna said hastily, backing away with a grimace. "…Is she gonna stay like that for a while, though?" she asked warily, pointing at the still swaying and vacantly grinning Haruna. "Because that _seriously_ creeps me out."

"No worries, Kagurazaka." Yue walked over, snapping her fingers next to Haruna's ear. "Wakey wakey, Paru."

Haruna's eyes cleared behind her spectacles, her posture straightening. "Bwah? Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened, Paru," Yue said calmly. "We were just looking for clues to Negi-sensei's past, remember?"

Haruna frowned, looking rather confused. "There was no seafood involved?"

"None at all."

"Huh. Weird. Could have sworn differently, but if you say so…" A slow grin formed on her face. "Seafood. That gives me an idea for my next manga, actually…"

Yue coughed quietly into her fist. "Negi-sensei? Past? Upper floor?"

"Right!" Haruna nodded decisively, grabbing her redheaded classmate by the collar and dragging her towards the stairs. "Come on, Asuna, let's go! We don't have much time!"

"Leggo of me, you perverted four-eyed freak! I can walk, dammit!"

After a minute of furious argument and much struggling, the two of them had finally climbed the stairs, squabbling all the way. Yue just shook her head resignedly as she heard another argument break out upstairs, which mostly consisted of Haruna teasing Asuna and her shouting in response. "Let's hope they don't break anything."

Nodoka laughed quietly, trying to hide her smile. "I think it's nice they're so energetic. Don't you agree?"

"In all honesty? Not really. They give me a headache more than anything else." She turned around, her eyes flitting back and forth over the bookshelves. "Now, let's see what kind of books Negi-sensei reads… Help me reach the top shelf, will you?"

Yue was an unusual person in many ways. While incredibly clever, she had never really applied herself in class, preferring instead to spend her free time reading various books, ranging from the sillier fiction to difficult treatises on philosophy that broke the brains most university students that were part of her philosophy club instead of doing homework. She had been shaped by books – her worldview, her opinions, her ideas had all been formed from reading and assimilating pages upon pages written by many different writers, some of them alive, some of them long dead, and all of them important.

As a consequence, she was of the firm opinion that a person's choice of literature was a far better indicator of their personality than any other variable you could think of.

Haruna's bookshelf, for example, was filled with volumes of various manga she enjoyed, but also with art collections from many different epochs and cultures, books on writing comics and similar subjects written by slightly loopy Americans, and finally a few anatomy journals to get the proportions and physiognomy of her characters right – it all showed that Haruna Saotome was determined to do her very best at becoming a successful artist and storyteller.

Nodoka's bookshelf was mostly occupied by classic fantasy stories and other novels she liked, her favourites being classics like Tolkien, Lewis, London, Melville, Verne, and an eclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction alike that had caught her eye. She liked reading for the sake of reading, seeking adventure and escape in it.

And Yue herself owned many, _many_ collections of the works of classic philosophers like Kierkegaard, Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Nietzche, Hobbes, Calvin, and a slew of unknown others. All books that were difficult to understand, but forced you to think about the world around you and the way you saw it.

Looking at a person's bookshelf was a foolproof approach to discover their personality and way of thinking. In theory, at least.

But as Yue skimmed over the spines of her teacher's many books, she found to her annoyance (and growing interest) that Negi Springfield seemed to once again defy normality as other people saw it.

As expected of an English teacher, there was a _lot_ of literature. Many classics were there – she thought she saw a collection of Shakespeare's works and a few commentaries somewhere, along with small paperbacks of famous pieces of theatre she recognized (Anouilh, Sophocles, Miller, Williams, Brecht, Goethe, and a bunch of others) – and many other works by authors popular with educators, as well as a slew of poetry collections. Many of these looked new, as if they had been recently purchased, though they looked well-thumbed.

Now, _those_ books she could understand: Negi-sensei had probably bought these when he'd become a teacher, aiming to familiarize himself with the topic he would teach.

The other works in his bookshelf, however, were far less logical.

"Look at this," Nodoka said quietly, showing her a few pages of a book. She'd flipped through a thick tome on traditional Japanese mythology and mysticism, and Yue saw many small annotations written into the margins in what she recognized was Negi-sensei's tidy, meticulous script. Coloured post-its lined the pages, and he had highlighted many passages that seemed to interest him, some of it cross-referencing to other works he owned.

"There's dozens like these," Yue noted, throwing a glance at the books. Indeed, there were numerous books on various mythologies, folktales, and mystical traditions – some of them on Japanese demons and Shinto practices, others on Scandinavian mythology or Middle-Eastern jinn, and many of them were written in foreign languages that neither Yue nor Nodoka could read.

Yue picked up one of these books, which looked well over seventy years old and was titled _Observations on the Courts of the Seelie and Unseelie_, written by a man called Arthur Langtry. "I never figured Negi-sensei to be the mystical type. Did you?"

"…Not really," Nodoka admitted slowly, looking rather intrigued. "But I don't think he really believes in it – it's more like he's studying it, don't you think? Considering all the notes he made…"

"Huh, that's actually a good point. It seems more like a scientific interest. There's lots of non-fiction too," Yue muttered as she went over to the next bookshelf. "World War One and Two, Interbellum, development of the Cold War and conflicts linked to it, observations on British imperialism and the Commonwealth, military theory…"

"There's religious works as well!" Nodoka said excitedly from the other end of the room where she had started looking. "Bibles, Qurans, Buddhist writings… And folktales and sagas of old heroes like Gilgamesh, Cú Chulainn, King Arthur, Alexander, Odysseus, and Achilles too!" She let out a quiet squeal of delight. "Yue, that's the Iliad in its original Greek! Oh, I wish I could understand it!"

"And here are Plato, Tacitus, Cato, Horace… All in Latin," Yue said quietly to herself, her eyes narrowing. "I'm sure I saw some Arabic, Chinese and a bunch of old runic script over there somewhere as well… Just how many languages can he _read_? And what is this stuff? Particle physics? Astronomy? Chemistry? Geology? Environmental sciences? That mix is just too weird… Some of these books are really rare, too – where did he even _get_ those?"

"Yue," Nodoka said suddenly. "I know this book."

"Really?" her friend said distractedly, not taking her eyes away from the many books as she tried to make sense what kind of person would own them. "Good on you."

"No, I _know_ this book," she insisted, holding up an old copy of the Japanese creation myth. "I've seen this exact same book somewhere before!"

Yue blinked, dragged out of her thoughts. "Huh? Where?"

"The Library, of course!" Nodoka's face was suddenly wide with wonder. "Yue, all these books must be from Library Island!"

"What, you're telling me he went into the Library _by himself_?!" Yue asked, and for just a moment, she was honestly flabbergasted. However, she soon schooled her face back into neutrality when common sense hit her. "Wait. This is Negi-sensei we're talking about. The guy who never asks for help when he needs anything, even though it would be easier. All because he doesn't want to bother anyone. _Of course_ he went there by himself, the stupid idiot."

"Yue—"

"The question is, of course," Yue muttered, kneading her forehead in concentrated frustration, "how the _hell_ did he not end up lost in that maze? I mean, it takes years until you can find your way in there. It just doesn't make any sense!"

"Yue."

"And how was he even allowed to take out books for such a long period of time! I mean, even college professors—"

"YUE!"

"WHAT?!" she shouted right back, only to see Nodoka and Haruna stare at her, looking honestly worried.

"Well, we're kinda done upstairs," Haruna said cautiously from the top of the stairwell. "Only a kitchen, a living room with a couch, and a small dinner table. Nothing interesting, really. No bed, though, which is weird, and there's a door we can't get open. You done with your little obsessive episode so you can help us, Yue?"

"I was _not_ having an 'obsessive episode' over my teacher!" Yue said indignantly.

"Could have fooled me," Haruna said drily, winking at her. "Is Yue-chan falling for our teacher with the mysterious past too? How naughty!"

The philosopher rolled her eyes, her expression never changing as she pushed past her on the landing. "Yeah, right. He's a conundrum, that's all."

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Haruna teased, her grin widening.

"Paru, could you please stop it?" Nodoka pleaded quietly as she followed her friend. "We shouldn't make fun of each other."

Haruna pouted. "Spoilsport. Hey, Asuna-chan! How's that door coming along?!"

"Doesn't— Want— To— Open, that's what coming along!" Asuna snarled, pulling as hard as she could on the doorknob and pointedly failing to achieve anything. She let go, glaring at the solid wooden door as it had personally offended her. "Damn it all! Why can't I open this thing?"

"Locked?" Haruna suggested wryly.

"Ha, ha," Yue said blandly. "As soon as we get all the smartass comments out of the way, perhaps we can actually do something productive?"

"Um," Nodoka spoke up meekly, catching everyone's attention. "Didn't Negi-sensei say he has a workroom?"

Asuna glanced at her, frowning. "He did, didn't he?"

"I also distinctly remember him expressly forbidding us from entering it," Yue reminded them.

"Well, that only makes me even more interested," Haruna muttered, grinning malevolently. "I mean, that's like an invitation!"

"I don't think he meant it that way."

"Tough luck for him, then! Now, Asuna, let me try for a mome—"

As soon as Haruna touched the doorknob, there was a sharp crackling sound and a bright flash of blue light, and she was violently thrown through the air to smash shoulders-first onto the floor. Panic ensued.

"Haruna!" Nodoka called out, dropping to her knees beside her friend and frantically looking her over as Yue helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"Owww…" the artist ground out, her hair standing on end in all directions. "What _was_ that?"

"Electricity," Yue said flatly, glaring at the door. "Negi-sensei has _electrified_ his door. Is he crazy or something? People could get hurt!"

A strange gleam had entered Haruna's eyes as she staggered back onto her feet, and her friends recognized it as the same manic curiosity that overtook Asakura when she was looking for the big scoop. "It does sound crazy," she said slowly. "Unless there's something that he _really_ wants to hide…"

And before anyone could stop her, Haruna tried to open the door again, with the exact same results as before.

"Owww…"

Yue looked down at her twitching form, shaking her head. "Now you've only got yourself to blame."

"Arghargl."

"Yes, I agree, that _was_ a stupid thing to do."

Nodoka approached the door carefully, but as soon as her fingers got close to the doorknob, there was a loud buzzing crack and she flinched back when a spark snapped at her fingers. "It's still not opening," she said helplessly.

"Huh…" Yue frowned as a sudden thought hit her. "Hey, Asuna, why didn't you get shocked when you tried to open the door?"

Asuna found herself the target of three inquisitive stares. "What?" she said, looking uncomfortable. "Hey, I don't know, okay? It was a door, so I tried to open it! Simple!"

"Yeah, makes perfect sense," Yue said, her expression deadpan. "So why don't you try again?"

"Oh, fine," Asuna muttered, annoyed. "But you'll cover my hospital fees if this goes wro—" Her hand grasped the doorknob without issue. "Huh?"

"Yes, I am terribly worried about you ending up in a hospital," Yue said wryly. "Can you open the door now?"

Asuna pulled at the doorknob as hard as she could, even setting her foot against the frame. "Not working!"

"…Try pushing it, Asuna."

Asuna threw her an aggrieved look. "Pushing? Whaddaya mean?"

"The opposite of pulling."

"Oh, come on, if it was something _that_ simple—"

The door clicked open, suddenly yawning wide and leading into a dark room. Everybody stared.

Yue frowned in puzzlement. "…Well, that was surprisingly easy."

"Says the one that didn't get electrified twice," Haruna grumbled, getting to her feet. Her usual wide, wicked grin was back on her face soon enough, though, and she stepped forward. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

The others followed her reluctantly, though their eyes soon widened in surprise.

…

"You alright, bro?" Chamo asked quietly from his perch on Negi's shoulder.

The young teacher shuddered, throwing up the collar of his coat against the cold night wind. "No, I'm _not_ alright, Chamo. Do you realize what just happened?"

"Nah, but you can always enlighten me."

"We have a vampire in the school. And not any vampire, but a True Ancestor to boot! And she's one of my students!" Negi looked pale and worried, shivering as they returned to the dorms through the already-dark Sakura Lane. "I'm supposed to be a magister magus, Chamo. Someone who protects those weaker from danger and harm they cannot defend against. How could I just miss a monster that could level the entire city if she wanted to?!"

"She didn't exactly look like a monster to me, pal," Chamo said carefully. "Bit cold and haughty, perhaps, but otherwise…"

Negi rubbed his arms, willing the Goosebumps to go away. "And that is what's even more terrifying about her," he muttered under his breath. "Looked like a human, talked like a human, _isn't_ human. God, I was tempted to just run away and hide under my bed, believe me."

"You've never fled from any of your enemies before, bro."

Negi barked out a small laugh of dark amusement. "True, but that was only because I didn't have any choice in the matter. It was do or die, remember?"

"Well, you haven't died yet, have ye?" Chamo said cheerfully. "Good on you."

"Hah. True enough."

They walked on in momentary silence, the only sound being the gravel crunching under Negi's feet. A sharp wind blew through the lane, and Negi absent-mindedly watched it pick up a few leaves and the way it made them dance in the breeze.

"…So, I guess you're not gonna help her?" Chamo piped up.

"Evangeline?" Negi scoffed. "No. She's right where I would want her – powerless, bound to a certain location, and right under my nose where I can watch her. As long as she doesn't try any funny business, I won't do anything."

"And what if she does?"

Negi remained silent and walked on. Chamo sighed, knowing well enough what would happen.

"…What does it mean to be a mage, Chamo?"

The ermine tipped its cigarette, the loose ash drifting away. "To be a mage," he said quietly, unwillingly, "is to walk with death."

"That's right," Negi said quietly, looking straight ahead with his hands stuck in his coat pockets, hunched and tired. "That's exactly it. Father knew that, long ago, and I'm sure Evangeline knows it as well. I'm not going to lie to anyone, least of all myself."

"This is still about _her_, isn't it?" Chamo asked, a note of despaired exasperation growing in his voice. "Bro, no offence, but you should really be moving on—"

Negi barked out a harsh laugh. "Oh, I'll move on sure enough, Chamo – as soon as you can tell me _where_ to go, that is."

Chamo gnashed his teeth, getting unreasonably angry. "You're still alive. That's good enough, innit?"

"True," Negi acknowledged with a sombre nod. "There's more to life than living, though."

"Says the teenager with _fifteen_ years of experience on the matter," Chamo scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Considering you still needed diapers when you were four, I think those first few ones don't count."

Negi threw his familiar an indignant look. "I did _not_ need diapers when I was four! Who told you that nonsense?!"

"Your sister did," Chamo said, grinning shrewdly. "Are you calling your sweet, sweet sister a barefaced liar, boy? Come on, spit it out, big man! Tell me I'm wrong!"

"One of these days," Negi muttered to himself as he increased his pace, scowling, "I'm going to have to talk to Nekane about the childhood stories she's _not_ allowed to tell you. Some of them shouldn't be let out into the open, _ever_."

The ermine cackled evilly. "Oh, how do you know that she hasn't told me _everything_ already, mate?"

"Oh, God help me," Negi mumbled as they finally reached the dormitories. "Either my students are going to kill me, or Anya will do the honours. Now…"

He fumbled in his pocket for his keys, only to become completely still when he threw a look up into the sky. "…Chamo," he began slowly.

"Yeah, what?"

"Did you leave the lights on in the lab before we left, by any chance?"

Chamo frowned, confused. What kind of weird question was _that_? "No, not really. Why d'you ask?"

"Because if you didn't," Negi said calmly as he unlocked the door, "that means that _someone_ is in my laboratory that definitely _shouldn't_ be there."

He sprinted into the building, leaving his puzzled familiar behind. Said state of puzzlement only lasted as long as it took for him to glance up at the darkened front of the dorms. The only lights still on after curfew were those of his study, true enough – but light also shone through the skylights of Negi's workroom, which the young prodigy had protected with more wards and charms than an entire Hellas Imperial Mage Battalion could break through.

In theory, at least.

"Ah, _shit_."

Chamo hurriedly dropped his cigarette, taking off like a white arrow after his friend before something horrible happened to him. Again.

…

"Well, this is surprisingly underwhelming," Yue said flatly.

Negi Springfield's so-called 'workroom' appeared like a strange mixture between laboratory, office, and bedroom. There was a large worktable thrown up against one wall, positioned in such a way that light fell through the skylights during the day to save the school some money on the electricity bill. A set of tools hung against the wall on hooks, neatly arranged by size and purpose, a large magnifying glass held in place by a large metal clutch that could be rotated and turned as its owner pleased. A few filing cabinets were there as well.

A small desk stood in another corner, books spread out its surface and a large computer screen whirring quietly in the otherwise silent room. Next to it was an unmade bed with a table on the nightstand and a small collection of books that seemed to have been well-thumbed and annotated. Even when he was relaxing, it seemed that Negi Springfield never entirely stopped working.

There was another, smaller bookshelf in the room as well, but what really caught the unlikely quartet's attention was that the far end of the room was separated from the rest by what appeared to be a large, see-through screen, leaving a stark, empty space looming behind it.

"What, this is it?" Haruna cried out, her face twisted in disappointment. "No dark secrets?! No stalker shrine? No stash of weapons? No chopped-up hobos? Nothing interesting _at all_!?"

Asuna whirled on her, horrified. "What on earth were you expecting, you crazy woman?"

"I don't know, something more interesting that… _this_!" Haruna said, throwing her arms wide. "It's ordinary, damn it! Not interesting at all!"

"Well, I think I'm rather glad that we didn't any of what you were looking for, Paru…" Nodoka said quietly, looking rather green around the gills. "It'd be disturbing if we did."

"Hey, guys," Yue interrupted the predictable bickering, "not to distract you all, but aren't _any_ of you wondering why Negi-sensei has a ballistic screen in his workshop?"

Nodoka turned to her friend, not understanding. "Pardon?"

"I've seen this sort of thing before," Yue said with a frown, walking across the room and reaching out to touch the thick plastic glass. "I went on a tour of the university's department – I only went there for their philosophy courses, to be honest – but they had these everywhere in the chem and engineering labs, to protect people from reactions going wrong and the like."

"So?"

"Apparently, these things can stop fifty-calibre bullets. Why would Negi-sensei need something like that?"

"Hey, that _is_ kinda weird!" Asuna exclaimed, walking up to Yue. "Why would he need that?!"

"Hey guys!" Haruna called out, excitement racing through her voice. "Look what I found!"

Yue whirled around at top speed, alarm bells going off in her head at Haruna's tone and her choice of words. When the hyperactive artist said something like 'Look what I found!' or 'What does _this_ button do?', it rarely boded well for anyone.

And true enough, there Haruna stood with a look of utter glee on her face, holding what looked suspiciously like a…

"Haruna," Yue said slowly, "where the hell did you get that gun?"

"Found it in drawer of the worktable! Wasn't even locked, funnily enough, but I'm not gonna complain." She held the gun up, marvelling at its shiny nickel finish. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Haruna," Yue said carefully, grabbing Asuna and Nodoka and slowly dragging them behind the ballistic screen. "Put it down, please."

Haruna blinked, looking honestly puzzled. "What? Why?"

"B-because it might be loaded?" Nodoka squeaked out with wide eyes, wringing her hands.

"Oh, come on!" Haruna scoffed, laughing as she started gesticulating with the revolver in hand. "It's heavier than I'd expect from a toy, but it's not surprising that he'd have something like this! Probably played Cowboys and Indians with it when he was a kid or something. Besides, Negi is one of the biggest goody-two-shoes I've ever seen. Can you imagine how much trouble he'd be in if he actually smuggled a _gun_ into the country?"

"Haruna!" Asuna called out, now looking more and more worried. "Drop the gun, _please_!"

"Oh, why are you all getting your panties twisted in a knot? It's just a to—"

Haruna hadn't really paying attention when she waved the heavy revolver around, and assumed that the correct way to hold a gun was to keep her index finger inside the trigger guard at all times. In fact, in retrospect it seemed as if she was begging chance for something to go wrong.

It surprised no one except Haruna, really, when the gun went off with an ear-splitting crack. Nodoka shrieked, falling to her knees and covering her ears; Asuna cursed and threw herself on top of Yue, driving her to ground and covering the smaller girl as best as she could.

When there was no new sound except Nodoka's quiet whimpering as the bookworm tried to make herself as small as possible, eyes clenched shut and hands clapped over her ears, Asuna cautiously looked up, dreading what she might see on the other side of the blasting screen.

The bulletproof glass was cracked, white lines lancing over the entire windowpane from its centre like a bizarre snowflake. Asuna could have sworn that she saw a small, dark spot at its centre – the bullet. It looked deceptively small for something that could kill a person.

Haruna stood there, staring at the gun in her hand with her eyes wide like those a deer stuck in the headlights of a speeding car, the eyes behind her squared glasses wide as saucers.

"Haruna," a voice spoke up from underneath Asuna, muffled and strained. "Put the gun down, please, before you shoot yourself in the head by accident. Asuna?"

"Yeah?"

"Geroffme!"

"Sorry!" Asuna squeaked when she noticed _where_ her hands had ended up, her face going beet red as she tried to untangle herself.

Haruna gingerly put down the revolver on the worktable and then ran over to help everyone up, babbling out apologies all the while and frantically asking if they were alright. At least she did until Yue took out a juice packet from somewhere and crammed the whole thing into her friend's mouth, the small philosopher's eyebrow twitching rampantly. Haruna stared at her, justifiably confused.

"Right. This is where you shut up for a minute so I can hear myself think, okay? Now, me, Nodoka, and Asuna are going to take a look around the room for more strange and unusual stuff. You, Paru," Yue continued, pointing at the empty space beyond the ballistic screen and glaring, "are going to sit down right there and not twitch a muscle. Do we understand each other?"

"But that's bor—" Haruna saw Yue's eyebrow twitch again. The doujin artist gulped loudly and saluted, beginning to sweat. "Yes, ma'am. Not a muscle. Understood. Right away, ma'am."

"Well, now we're getting somewhere," Yue muttered under her breath as Haruna dutifully sat down and kept quiet. "Without anyone's head getting blown off, I hope."

"I get it already," Haruna grumbled as she flopped down on the ground behind the bulletproof glass. "No more touching stuff that has a trigger or a big red button somewhere."

"Promise?" Yue shot over her shoulder as she walked over to the worktable.

"…No promises. I like big red buttons."

"Should I _really_ be surprised?" Yue muttered under her breath, and she just barely caught Nodoka's quiet giggles at what undoubtedly was Haruna's wide, unapologetic grin.

Soon, they were back at turning over the room, Nodoka taking books from the shelves and hurriedly flipping through them. Yue had begun eyeing the worktable with the various tools and instruments and instrument hanging off the walls while Asuna had walked to Negi's private corner, trying to see if she found anything suspicious.

Again, Yue couldn't quite understand why Negi Springfield would own such a weird collection of tools and hardware. There were the usual hammers, files, screwdrivers ranging in size from huge, knife-like slabs of metal to tiny little instruments that could probably have been used to take apart clockwork, a spirit level, pincers, tweezers, callipers, a collection of _very_ sharp knives, whetstones, and various other tools that she couldn't even recognize.

Arranged next to that were a huge magnifying glass, a sextant, a diamond cutter, and an apparatus that looked suspiciously like an electric grinder without an external power cord. Strewn on the table top or secured in tidily labelled boxes under and on the table was a collection of test tubes, cases full of coloured minerals, weird stones and rocks, numerous packets holding strange powders, vials full of gaseous liquids that were labelled in unintelligible shorthand, various sheets of strange metals, and a telescope.

The only thing that Yue could deduce from Negi Springfield's eclectic collection of tools and worktable was that it _made no damn sense at all._

_And here I was, thinking that I could play Sherlock Holmes_, the small philosopher groused. _Fat lot of good _that_ did. _

"Yue," Nodoka's voice wafted through the room. "I can't read these books at all."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, most of them are in languages I can't read," Nodoka said quietly. "Weird symbols, runes and stuff…"

Yue looked up, frowning, knowing her friend well enough that enough that something else was bothering her. "But?"

"Well, the stuff that's I _can_ read is even stranger," Nodoka admitted, leafing through a small book, her forehead scrunched up in a frown. "The words are all jumbled up and confusing, and they're all arranged in weird sentences that don't make sense. They're all handwritten by Negi-sensei, though…"

"How do you know that it's he who wrote 'em?" Asuna called out from the other side of the room, her voice muffled as she searched under the bed for anything suspicious.

"He's her crush, remember?" Haruna said, grinning widely. "And he corrects each and every one of our exams by hand, so it's not as if we've never seen his shorthand before. Heck, Asuna, considering how bad your exam results are, you should know his handwriting better than any one of us!"

"Haha, very funny," Asuna grumbled.

"Perhaps it's a cipher of some kind," Yue hazarded, frowning. "So that people who don't know it can't read it…"

"Ooh!" Haruna said excitedly. "Do you think that Negi-sensei is a spy for a foreign government or something? That'd be cool!"

"Or he might be a terrorist," Yue retorted harshly. "Not much of a difference really, and it'd make as much sense as the rest of the stuff you're saying."

"Yue," Nodoka pleaded, her eyes wide. "Please don't say horrible things like that!"

"Er, Nodoka," Asuna spoke up worriedly, "not to try and crush your hopes or anything, but Yue might have a point."

"Huh?"

Asuna waved them over, looking troubled. "Here, take a look at what I found."

Spread out on the floor before her was a bundle of solid cloth, and the usually excitable girl carefully separated the objects held in it. Yue's and Nodoka's eyes widened when they spotted what looked like an American break-loading grenade launcher from Vietnam, a gunbelt, numerous cylindrical objects that Nodoka recognized from a Western movie she's recently seen as speedloaders, a few small, yet heavy boxes full of golden rounds of ammunition, a number of grenades, and also a vicious-looking, foot-long knife – one of it edges sharp and glinting bright in the little light of the room, the other serrated and dark.

A modest leather bandolier lay to the side, its pockets empty except for one thing, but the one thing it _did_ hold definitely caught the eye: a long sword with a thin blade and an elegant swept hilt hung from one end, the entire weapon beautifully made in the Renaissance fashion of a strange metal that shone like silver. It looked scrupulously cleaned and well cared-for, even if the hilt looked slightly battered – as if it had been used in true combat.

Nodoka slowly reached out to touch the blade in quiet reverence, but Asuna caught her wrist. "Don't," Asuna said warningly at the look of surprise the young librarian gave her. "Remember what happened when Haruna touched the door?"

"Although I hate to admit it, she has a point, you know," Yue muttered. "We have no idea how Negi-sensei might have trapped these things. Could be dangerous."

Nodoka nodded hurriedly and quickly snatched back her hand. She rubbed her wrist and looked over the scattered weapons, looking more and more worried by the moment. "This doesn't make sense…"

"You're right," Yue agreed sombrely. "Why would Negi-sensei smuggle an entire arsenal into Japan? I mean, with our strict laws, all that stuff has _got_ to be illegal. But the more important question is _why_ a young foreign teacher would need an arsenal in the first place…"

She caught Asuna's slight flinch and troubled expression, and her eyes narrowed in a glare. "You know something we don't, don't you, Asuna?"

Asuna looked up helplessly at the accusation. "I wish I could tell you guys, but I promised him I wouldn't—"

"Is it that important?" Yue pressed on. "Is he being threatened or blackmailed? Is that why he left the UK to come to Japan? Is _that_ why he's stashing all these weapons?"

"_I don't know!"_ Asuna finally cried out in frustration, gripping at her hair angrily and glaring. "I have no idea why he would need all that stuff, okay?! I'm just as surprised as you are!"

"But why does he keep all this stu—"

"_Hello there, everyone! How are you doing?_" Negi called out cheerfully.

Nodoka squeaked in sudden panic. Yue whirled around faster than she had ever moved before, her eyes wide as Asuna leapt to her feet.

Haruna, meanwhile, managed to hit the 'pause' button, freezing the hologram of Negi Springfield floating in the air above the computer monitor that stood on the otherwise empty desk.

"HARUNA SAOTOME!" Yue bellowed angrily. "What _on earth_ do you think you're _doing_?!"

"Hehe," the artist chuckled nervously and scratching her head with a sheepish look on her face that grew into nervousness as Yue stalked towards her. "Pushing big red buttons…?"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack! And didn't I tell you to sit down and _not touch anything?_"

Haruna winced. "Er, yeah, but you see, I saw that no one had taken a look at the computer and I got _bored_—"

"God help us," Asuna muttered under her breath – once she had gotten it back, at least. "She's worse than a monkey."

"Okay, before you all decide to mob me and clobber me into unconsciousness," Haruna said quickly, raising her arms as Yue began to stalk towards her, "you could just look at what I found on the computer!"

Yue watched her suspiciously, lowering her small fists before she could honestly pummel her friend. "What did you find?"

"A diary!"

Yue's eyebrow climbed up her large forehead. "A diary? Seriously?"

"Yeah!" Haruna said excitedly, scuttling back to open a folder on the glowing computer screen. "Apparently, he made a bunch of videos while he was away doing… _something_. Somewhere. It doesn't exactly say."

"Negi-sensei doesn't seem like the kind of person who would keep a diary," Nodoka said quietly, leaning forward to peer over Haruna's shoulder.

"And it's a real diary?" Asuna asked, looking bemused. "What kind of girl he liked as a kid, what trouble he got into at school, 'I got a bad grade today' kind of diary?"

"Well, not really like that," Haruna amended, frowning as she clicked through a few files, her eyes jumping hurriedly from left to right as she skimmed over the complicated writing. "Most of it is research notes, diagrams, formulas and… _stuff_ I don't understand."

The artist threw up her arms in frustration, scowling at the scribbles on the screen before her. "It's all written in foreign languages too! How the hell are we supposed to find out about our teacher's dark secrets if we can't even read his diary?! This always works in the movies! Life should be more convenient, I tell you!"

"Huh," Asuna muttered, crossing her arms and grimacing. "Would have been too easy, otherwise."

"So it's useless after all," Yue said flatly. "Yippee."

"Well, not _all_ of it," Haruna corrected, peering through her glasses at the root directory. "We can't read the text files, perhaps, but there's a bunch of videos here and there. We might be able to understand those!"

"Is that what you were doing when you nearly gave us all a heart attack, Paru?" Yue asked archly.

"Hey, I just clicked on the first thing that came up," Haruna defended herself. "How was I supposed to know you'd be so jumpy?"

"We're breaking into our teacher's private rooms and looking through his stuff while he's out," Yue reminded her acidly. "That's ground for expulsion. _At least_. So excuse me if I feel a little bit paranoid."

"Fine, fine, I get it," Haruna mumbled. "So!" she said loudly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose and grinning. "Wanna take a look?"

Looking away from Haruna's glasses that reflected the light of the computer screen, Yue looked sideways at Nodoka and Asuna. "What do you guys think?"

Asuna scratched the back of her head, unsure. "I dunno, really…"

"Let's look through it," Nodoka interrupted, her voice firm.

Yue looked at her, honestly surprised. "Sorry?"

"This is our biggest opportunity to find out something about sensei's past," Nodoka said, her face set in a determined expression. "We'll never get a chance like this again. I'm _not_ letting it pass by."

"You sure about this?" Haruna said, peering at Haruna over her glasses – her expression for once lacking any mischievous intent and just showing honest concern. "I mean, I doubt he'll appreciate you finding out about him like this, you know?"

Nodoka hesitated for a moment. "He's been our teacher for _months_, Paru," Nodoka said quietly. "And he hasn't told us _anything_ about himself. I want to know him. Who he is, what he's been through, what his plans for the future are…" The librarian looked up, her eyes filled with even more resolve than before. "This is my chance to learn _something_ about him. Like I said, I'm not letting it pass by."

"Heh," Asuna chuckled, sounding impressed. "Well, at least you know exactly what you want, girl."

Yue shook her head, amused. "Well, I guess that can only be considered a good thing."

Nodoka faltered and started wringing her hands. "…Are you guys making fun of me?"

"No, no, not at all! We're impressed, actually. So it's decided, then?" Haruna asked quickly, the artist grinning widely again.

Yue looked up at the hologram of Negi Springfield floating in the air over the desk, and she smiled. "Hit it, Paru."

The artist obliged happily, and soon the floating figure of their smiling teacher moved again.

_"I'm not too sure when you will be able to get this message, Nekane, Anya,"_ Negi spoke, and it was only then that Yue noticed that his voice was far more high-pitched than usual – childish, even. _"But I just wanted to let you know that I've arrived safely at the Gateport in Megalomesembria. Mundus Magicus is so beautiful, Anya, I wish you could be there to see it!"_

His young face lost the smile, though it returned after a moment. _"I won't be able to visit the capital at all, unfortunately – I'm supposed to get my deployment papers any time now, and then I'll have to go on board the ship I've been assigned to. The peacekeepers have been short-staffed recently, and the news from the border states of the Union hasn't been the best… Don't worry, though!" _he said hastily, waving his arms. _"I won't be in any danger, Nekane; we're unlikely to be deployed into any combat zones! It's probably just the Hellas Empire testing out the Union troops, and if there is trouble, we'll just be there to keep the peace and protect the civilians. We won't be fighting battles, I'm sure of it!"_

The younger Negi suddenly looked slightly forlorn, coughing into his fist. _"You know…"_ he said slowly, sounding slightly awkward and averting his eyes from the camera. _"I've just realized that this is the first time I've left home for good. I already miss you two, and everyone else from the Academy."_ He looked up, smiling brightly again. _"Ah, I shouldn't mope! This is a great adventure, don't you think? Still… I hope you're all doing fine."_

He waved at the camera. _"I'm sure you're having a lot of fun at the Magic Association in London, Anya! It's great that you can experiment and study magic as much as you want! Perhaps you can find out how to reverse the effects of the petrification… And Nekane, make sure to take it easy! I don't want to hear that you hurt yourself again – be careful with those new prostheses!"_

_"Oi, Negi!"_ a raucous voice called out from off the side of the screen. _"You done with yer letter?"_

_"Nearly, Chamo!"_ Negi called back, smiling. _"Just saying goodbye!"_

_"Ah, hell, lemme do it too!"_ A streak of white flashed across the hologram, and suddenly a widely grinning ermine sat on Negi's shoulder, a cigarette clutched in one paw and waving with the other. _"Hullo there! You all doing alright over there on the other side of the Gate?"_

Negi beamed. _"See? I have Chamo to help me! I'll be fine, there's nothing to worry about."_

The ermine guffawed. _"Especially once we start checking out the nightlife in the capital…"_

Negi frowned at him, puzzled. _"What's 'nightlife'?"_

Chamo cackled, nudging the side of Negi's head with his elbow. _"I'll show you once you're done messaging your two lovely ladies, alright?"_

_"Okay!"_ Negi turned back towards the camera. _"I'll call back as soon as I can, okay? Take care of yourselves! Goodbye! Now,"_ he addressed Chamo with childlike curiosity, _"what's this 'nightlife' you were telling me about?"_

_"Oh, you're gonna love it, I tell y—"_

The video ended abruptly, leaving the four students staring incredulously at the screen.

Haruna was the first to get her act back together, though it mostly involved snapping her mouth shut, pointing at the screen and indignantly shouting "That momonga just talked!"

"Idiot," Yue muttered, rolling her eyes. "That's wasn't a momonga."

"What was it, then?!"

"That was an ermine, not a flying squirrel. Obvious, really."

"Look, it doesn't matter what species it was!" Haruna protested. "It _talked_!"

"That is weird," Yue admitted. "Wonder if that was CGI or something…"

"Why would Negi-sensei put CGI in a private message?" Haruna demanded. "It doesn't make sense!"

"No, it really doesn't," Yue said, thumbing her chin thoughtfully and glancing at Asuna out of the corner of her eye. Asuna looked troubled, as if she understood something that she nevertheless refused to share. Interesting.

"Haruna, how old is that video?"

The artist looked up the relevant information, frowning. "Dated five years ago. Why d'you ask?"

"Negi-sensei couldn't have been more than ten years old, then," Yue said slowly as some pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "And yet he's talking about stuff like 'deployment', 'peacekeepers', and some 'Union' and 'Empire'. Don't you think that's weird?"

"It is," Asuna agreed reluctantly. "But I still don't understand how it all fits together."

"I wonder what place Negi-sensei was talking about," Nodoka said quietly. "I've never heard of a country called 'Megalomesembria' and 'Mundus Magicus.' Have you?"

They all shook their heads in befuddlement. Yue translated the last word in her head with the little Latin she knew, but the resulting idea was so ridiculous that she dismissed it immediately.

Still, she couldn't help the nagging feeling of dread that crept up in her mind.

She banished it from her thoughts, turning back to Haruna. "What's the date on the next video?"

"A few days later," Haruna said immediately. "Want me to play it?"

"Sure, go ahead."

This time, the camera showed a close-up of Negi's smiling face. He looked excited about something, bouncing up and down. _"Hey, Anya, Nekane!"_ he called out, waving with his hand, the other one holding the jittering camera. _"I got my deployment papers! My ship is called the _Aequitas_! Look! Isn't it cool?"_

The camera swept away from his face, and only now did they realize that Negi was standing on some sort of quay in a harbour. The first thing that the four students realized was amiss that there was no water. In fact, it seemed that instead of the teeming sea, a rolling blanket of tumultuous white clouds stretched out as far as the eye could see.

The second thing they noticed was off was that the so-called 'ship' was currently floating in mid-air.

It didn't really look like a ship as the four students knew the term. Instead of the long, rounded keel and open deck common to a sea-faring vessel – aside from the fact that it was _floating_ – it looked more like a manta ray: a large, flat body with two paddle-like lobes extending from its front and triangular fins that resembled wings holding it aloft. As they watched, they saw the wings and lobes move minutely to adjust to the winds flowing around it, straining against the steel cables holding it in place. Its underside was coloured a pale grey, its topside jet black.

And it was huge. Far larger than any ship they had ever seen in their lives, in any case. As they watched, they saw men and women come and go on various gangways leading from the quay, large crates and containers getting lifted on board through the ship's cavernous 'mouth' using cranes and something that looked like smaller floating shuttles.

_"It's got about seventy crew, though it can carry twice that much if it has to,"_ Negi babbled excitedly into the camera. _"Most of those are engineers and sailors, but there are a lot of gunners and flying officers to escort the ship too! I'm going to be one of them! Isn't it cool?"_

The camera turned around to show Negi's beaming face. _"They're just loading up our supplies, so we'll be leaving tomorrow to join the Fifth Fleet of the Union at the crack of dawn! The sunset over the clouds is going to look great, I'm sure of it!"_

His smile became fixed for just a moment, and then his face fell mournfully. _"You know… They told me that I'll only be able to send you letters and messages every once in a while, since there's a communication blackout in the field, and there'll be trouble for the couriers, and we'll be moving around a lot…"_

The young boy looked away, looking guilty. _"So, what I wanted to say is that I won't be able to send messages as much as I'd probably like to. I'll do my best to write as often and as much as I can, though! I already miss you two."_

_"Oi, Springfield!"_ a loud voice bellowed from a distance. _"Time to get your stuff on board!"_

_"Coming, sir!"_

_"It's 'Aye-aye' now, you landlubber! Get moving; I don't have all day to dillydally with you young midshipmen! MOVE IT!"_

_"Aye-aye, sir!"_ Negi shouted back, grinning despite the stern admonishment. His childish excitement about the entire situation was obvious. He turned back to the camera, grinning. _"I've got to go! I'll write as soon as I can, promise! Goodbye, you two!"_

The screen went black, and once again, the four students were silent and slack jawed.

"Hey, you guys," Asuna spoke up faintly. "Please tell me that I wasn't the only one who was seeing things."

"Nope," Haruna said, shaking her head and grinning madly. "You weren't. I saw the floating ship too."

"Well, I don't really know about you lot," Yue said slowly, "but I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Asuna and Haruna didn't catch the reference, never having Lyman Frank Baum's books or seen the movie, but Nodoka certainly did, the small librarian nodding with wide eyes full of wonder.

The files following that video were a large collection of photographs – the oceans of white floating clouds and blue sky as the ship cut through the air, shots of clearly lit corridors made from grey steel, various people they didn't know who seemed to happily pose for pictures, simply annoyed that they were being photographed, or impassive and uncaring as the lens caught them.

There were other pictures that took their breath away – they saw seas of white clouds covering the sky as the ship flew amongst them, patches of the earth or the deep-blue sea far down below. There were pictures of a thunderstorm as it developed in the atmosphere, the tower of pure white stretching high for kilometres above them, panoramic clear skies where they could see for hundreds of kilometres around them, and nearly-invisible wisps of condensed air trailing through the sky, higher than most planes flew.

There was a folder labelled 'Floating Ruins of Ostia,' and here they saw a sea of low-hanging clouds, precipices and crags jutting out of it, the sky utterly empty. It looked deserted and mournful, so the four students quickly moved on to the next pictures – photographs of a fleet of ships, many of them far smaller than the _Aequitas_ and zipping around in the sky like excited honeybees, but quite a few easily dwarfed the floating manta ray by several magnitudes, the gigantic behemoths floating slowly through the skies as if they were cleaving a wave, the other ships arranging themselves in formation around them. It was a truly awe-inspiring sight.

And finally, there was another video dated a few weeks later.

It began with Negi standing on what looked like an observation deck, ancestral staff in hand and looking out at the sky outside with a troubled expression.

_"Oi, bro, the camera's running."_

Negi startled as he was torn from his thoughts. _"Oh, it is? Excuse me, I was distracted."_ He smiled at the camera, looking sheepish. _"I'm really sorry about that. I've been worried a lot recently—"_

_"Even though people tell you not to worry, you still do it non-stop,"_ the man (or ermine) holding the camera chuckled raucously. _"Typical of ye, really."_

_"Chamo!"_ Negi whined, for once showing his young age. _"This is supposed to be a message to Anya and Nekane!"_

The ermine laughed._ "Sorry, sorry; carry on."_

_"Right…"_ Now that he finally had the opportunity to speak, Negi looked rather lost for words.

_"…We're in Syrthia now," _he finally began, his voice sounding slightly tinny in the recording_. "We started from Megalomesembria, passed the Nesebar Gap and Shalbatana Vallis, flew over the Floating Ruins of Ostia – gosh, you should have seen it, Anya, it was so beautiful! – and then crossed the ocean to link up with the Fifth Fleet."_

He smiled, looking almost happy as he recounted what he'd done in recent weeks. _"The other peacekeepers have been really nice to me. Most of them are like me, you know? They want to help people, to protect them; they want to make a difference. They've showed me all kinds of cool tricks already, and I've learned a lot from them. Not as much as you're probably learning at the Association in London right now, Anya,"_ he added hastily, _"But it's still quite a lot! I love it!"_ Negi coughed into his fist, looking slightly sheepish as Chamo repressed a chuckle, the camera jittering. _"Erm. Right. Back to Syrthia._

_"It's part of the Union, a nation state on the border to Hellas, in the northern part of the Elysium subcontinent south of the equator. Deserts, oases, and grasslands mostly – it's a beautiful country, and many great mages have come from here, both beastfolk and humans." _

His eyes lit up with enthusiasm._ "You don't really notice it up here with the cold air currents, but it's supposed to be really hot down there. Scorching hot, actually, but people still freeze to death in the nights. Harsh lands, and it's not always been particularly peaceful, but people have tried to make a living here. And now…"_ The young mage shrugged helplessly, pointing at the open sky before him. _"Well, take a look for yourself."_

Lines and lines of dark, cigar-like shapes were arrayed in the sky dozens of kilometres away, and even from a distance it was obvious that they were moving in a ponderously slow manner towards them, fanning out to occupy the sky in various formations. Countless smaller shapes, nearly invisible to the naked eye, flew around them, dipping high and low like a clutch of fireflies buzzing around a lantern.

_"The Hellas vanguard,"_ Negi explained gloomily. _"We've only managed to join the Fifth Union Fleet two weeks ago, and by then the Imperials had already crossed the border. They've been fighting on the ground below for a while now, and all we can do to help the people down there is fight the Empire in the sky until reinforcements arrive."_

The little boy shook, clutching his staff. His knuckles were white. _"I don't want to fight,"_ he said quietly, looking blearily at the sky before them. _"I don't want to fight _anyone_. I mean, I'm supposed to be a peacekeeper, aren't I? I'm not supposed to hurt people. I want to _help_ them. That's what being a magister magus is all about, isn't it?"_

_"Oi, aniki,"_ Chamo admonished him gently. _"You're getting distracted. That's not what you wanted to record, remember?"_

_"True, true… Give me a minute?"_

_"Sure."_

Negi took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, supporting himself on his staff with both hands, his shoulders slumped and sighing deeply. For a moment, Yue couldn't help but find that he looked far older than just ten years old.

After a moment, Negi's eyes opened again, their red-brown gaze focusing on the camera. He still looked tired and worn, and Yue felt a stab of pity in her chest.

_"We'll meet them soon,"_ the young boy spoke quietly. _"Tomorrow, perhaps… Perhaps two or three days hence. Who really knows? My point is that we're going to fight. I thought I wasn't going to fight __– _ I hoped_ so __– _but it looks like I was mistaken. Sorely so, in fact." Negi shot a glance outside, his expression tired and worn. _"The world doesn't seem to be that kind and forgiving._

_"Now,"_ Negi said quietly, turning back to face the camera, standing up straight with a determined glint in his eye. _"That doesn't mean I won't do my best. I want to be a peacekeeper. I want to protect people. I want to be a hero like Father was. And if I die trying, well, I can at least say that I tried."_

He hesitated for a moment. _"But in case I don't come back… I just wanted to record this message. So you know I'm sorry, I mean. Sorry that I couldn't keep my promises—"_ Negi broke off, coughing quietly and looking away. Yue could have sworn that he wiped his eyes, but she couldn't be sure.

_"Erm. Yes. And that I'm sorry that I couldn't make it back like I promised I would. Sorry that I never helped you get your legs back, Nekane. Sorry I couldn't keep all the promises I made to you, Anya. Believe me, I truly am."_

Negi paused, his fingers gripping the windowsill tightly.

_"If you ever receive this message,"_ Negi said quietly, turning back to look outside, _"then that means I'll have failed in my goal, my dream, even though I did my best. Saddening, certainly, but that's just how the world works."_

He turned around, smiling quietly at the camera, a smile they had often seen when one of his students tried to cheer him up when he was in one of his melancholic moods, or when he watched their exuberant antics in class. Fond, indulgent, and perhaps a little sad. _"It seems like you will have to look for that cure all on your own, Anya. Forgive me."_

_"…You done, bro?"_ Chamo asked, his voice muffled and strained.

_"Nearly,"_ Negi said promptly, smiling. _"There's one more thing you need to know! It's something a friend of mine on the ship told me. I think you should hear it."_

Negi paused for a moment, clearing his throat. _"'To be a mage is to walk with death,'"_ he recited solemnly as he looked at the camera, his childish face serious. _"I've walked with death before, and I will do so again. I have nothing to fear."_ The young mage chuckled. _"Perhaps it'll help you accept… all of this. It certainly helped me."_

Negi smiled faintly and waved at the camera. _"Goodbye! Sorry that I couldn't stay any longer! I really wanted to, believe me…"_

His voice trailed off, and he suddenly looked a little lost. Negi turned around to look back at the sky, and the video spluttered and went dark, having finally reached its end.

Dead silence reigned in the study, and the only sound they heard was the rain pattering against the skylights. At some point, a storm had crept up in the darkness, and none of them had noticed.

"…Did I just see that right?" Yue said quietly, breathing quickly as tried to absorb the magnitude of what she had just borne witness to. "Seriously – did I just _see that right?_"

"Oh, God," Nodoka whispered, her hands clapped to her mouth in horror. "That was a testament. Negi-sensei's testament."

"I'm gonna feel sick," Asuna muttered, looking pale. "Heaven help us, he can't have been more than ten years old, and he already thought he was going to die? That's messed up, I tell you."

"Did you hear what he said?" Haruna spoke up, her expression unusually subdued.

"What? What did he say?"

"He said that this wasn't the first time he'd 'walked with death,'" Haruna said quietly, adjusting her glasses. "Even when he was only ten years old, this wasn't the first time something bad happened to him."

Yue cursed in a rather unladylike manner, surprising her friends, and she quickly waved them off. "Let's take a look at the rest of the pictures. Quickly, before I think too much about this."

Haruna obliged, and they soon sped through several years' worth of pictures. The pictures dated after that video where mostly diagrams and landscapes, but quite a few of them included people. Some of them were posing in groups; others were portraits of single person or pairs; genial and stoic, laughing and serious. Many of them looked normal, but others were abnormally shaped and had strange extremities – horns, tails, fur, claws, and the like. Despite that, no one seemed entirely bothered by them as they were photographed.

A few rare ones showed Negi. His four students watched him age into the young man they knew through his photographs: a small boy whose staff was entirely too big for him growing tall and lanky until he could finally wield it, his face losing the childish chubbiness and growing thinner. His apparel changed – there a long brown overcoat appeared over his suit and uniform, a bandolier slung across his shoulders, a rapier hanging from his one side, the revolver holstered in his belt in the other.

Even as the backgrounds changed from blue skies to lush green jungles, windswept dunes, gleaming cities, nocturnal ruins, and brightly illuminated palaces, and no matter who surrounded him, he always looked tired and haggard as the camera caught him, his eyes dull as he tried to politely smile for the photographer.

Some of those photographs were truly disturbing – one of them showed Negi leaning against the wall of a ruin in a jungle, nonchalantly smoking his pipe. He was splattered from head to toe in blood. Another saw him sit in a destroyed house with a small group of others, covered in grime and dust and leaning heavily on his staff. He stared blankly ahead, his eyes open and not seeing anything.

Another of the later pictures – when Negi had been around fifteen, apparently – showed a stately, palatial ballroom. Amongst the many couples out on the floor, the four students could spot Negi wearing an elegant marine blue uniform and dancing with a woman. She wore a long, shoulderless red dress, her flowing black hair made up into twintails with dark ribbons, and her blue eyes laughed as Negi gracefully spun her around.

He looked happier than they had ever seen him.

The next few pictures were rather blurry – it seemed that the photographer had tried to approach the two once they'd finished dancing. Negi's face was flushed and he smiled awkwardly as he scratched his neck in embarrassment, the young woman looking both parts annoyed and flustered, and they were soon swamped by a group of laughing men, women and beasts – people who had appeared in previous pictures, people who seemed to know them well – who happily congratulated them on something, toasting them.

And then the archive came to an end, the last photograph dated two months before Negi arrived at Mahora Academy.

"…Who was that woman?" Nodoka asked curiously. "They seemed close."

"I don't think that really matters right now," Yue said bluntly.

"Yep," Haruna agreed immediately, eyes brimming with energy as she jumped to her feet. "Did you get all that?"

"You mean the floating ships, the huge buildings that I've never seen or read about in any books, and the talk about magic?" Nodoka said quietly, and now even she was smiling. "I understood it well enough. How interesting!"

"But don't you realize what it _means_, you guys?!" Haruna said, bouncing up and down in barely suppressed excitement. "It means magic exists, and there's a whole secret world out there! And Negi-sensei's is part of it! Come on, isn't that the coolest thing you've ever heard?!"

"Perhaps," Yue said, a cautious smile growing on her face. "It sounds like fun."

"D'you think there might be dragons?" Haruna wondered aloud. "I'd like to draw dragons! That'd be very cool!"

"Or perhaps they have libraries that were lost in the ages," Nodoka mused happily. "Perhaps we could visit them…"

"Guys," Asuna warned. "Not to spoil the mood, but don't you wonder why none of us have ever heard of this magic stuff before?"

For a moment, the Library Trio stared at her blankly, and the Baka Ranger groaned and palmed her face. "Too smart to see the forest because of the trees," she muttered morosely before leaning back, crossing her arms and scowling at them. "We can't have been the first ones who found out about this. If we've never heard of magic before, then that means that someone – or something – must have stopped people from revealing it to others. Doesn't that worry you at all?"

Haruna's face fell as the pieces clicked in place. "Oh."

Yue swallowed, her throat having suddenly gone dry. It made a terrifying amount of sense. "This is big, isn't it? Bigger than anything we could have imagined."

"Do you think we're in trouble?" Nodoka asked worriedly, wringing her hands.

"Oh, young ladies," a calm voice spoke up, "you have _absolutely no idea._"

They whipped around to see Negi in the doorway, his red hair matted with rain and water dripping off his coat onto the floor, and his expression was by far the coldest, most furious, and most _dangerous_ they had ever seen on him.

Suddenly, breaking into their teacher's workroom didn't seem like such a clever idea.

…

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?!_ was released by studio _Shaft_, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

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	8. VIII – Things That Go Bump In The Night

DO NOTE that this story IS NOT endorsed by the original holders of the intellectual rights or copyrights mentioned at the end of this chapter. This is a work of _fanfiction_ based on the original work and its associated franchise, with the intent to amuse and distract its readers. There is absolute no intent to make money or otherwise deny the original copyright holders their given due. Should the original holders of the copyright be offended by my use of their rightful property, I will gladly take it down in accordance with the Terms of Service of this website. Please support the official release(s) mentioned below.

...

Good day or good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the eighth chapter of _The Oncoming Storm!_

Now, you probably wonder, why did I spend so much time specifically not updating my various stories? Well, I have a few very good reasons. In descending order of importance: I had upcoming university exams for which I _really_ needed to study; I had to write those blasted university exams; I started looking for a job; and after just _not writing_ for over two months, I was in a bit of a creative blank space until I got the hang of things again.

Still, I read all of your comments, reviews, and messages, and every time I got that little email alert telling me that another one of you had decided to follow one of my stories and/or declare it to be one of your favourites, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

So I say thank you very, _very_ much for all your kind understanding and support. You certainly are a lot of fun to write for.

Now, about the reader reaction to the last chapter: I am honestly very much surprised at the venom that was unleashed at our unlucky quartet of schoolgirls. I definitely wanted to make them appear as being foolhardy and not thinking entirely straight (being dumb, insensitive teenagers, essentially – goodness knows that I wasn't an angel at their age), but I seem to have hit a nerve with people. I was both surprised and pleased, actually – that sort of emotional reaction is the sort of thing I write for.

Still, our four unlucky students won't get their memories erased – but they certainly won't escape unscathed. For the details on that, read on.

And for all those of you who guessed that the mystery girl at the end of last chapter was Rin Tohsaka from _Fate/Stay Night_, let me applaud you. You hit the nail right on the head, ladies and gentlemen. I spent a lot of time wondering whether you were all far too clever for me to fool, or whether my skills at foreshadowing and vague flashbacking sequences were worse than I thought. Knowing my luck, it's probably a combination of the two.

Rin's fate is important to explain how Negi Springfield became the young man he is today. But I shan't reveal all of it! Yet, at least. I still need _something_ interesting to tempt you back to this story, after all. But there are some crumbs scattered here and there in this chapter as to what happened in the past. Let's see if you can figure out some clues of the puzzle…

Oh, and we are now meeting a few old friends. And then we're getting to the violence, the blood, the politics... Goodness, this is going to be _fun_.

I think the future tone of the story should be very obvious from this chapter on. As the crossover elements should be. If you like it, please keep reading! I'll try my very best to keep you entertained.

I hope you had as much fun reading this story as I had writing it. Whether you liked or disliked it, liked some parts, loathed others, or if you have any other suggestions, please drop me a line, or two, or more in a review. I will certainly be reading your comments with great interest.

…

**The Oncoming Storm**

**Chapter VIII – Things That Go Bump in the Night**

…

They sat in silence in the chairs arrayed before Negi's desk, not daring to utter a single word. Nodoka's hands lay in her lap, her hands forcibly clamped together so that they would stop shaking, and she refused to look up.

She didn't need to do look up, however, to know that Haruna, Yue, and Asuna were in the same boat. Negi-sensei's reaction to their little plan had seen to that.

The doujin artist had laughed at first, sheepishly scratching her neck as their teacher marched into his workroom as he surveyed their handiwork. "Ahahaha… Hi there, Negi-sensei. Uh, we can explain this—"

Negi-sensei had silenced her with the most furious glare the young librarian had ever seen on anyone, and from the ways his fingers were clenching and unclenching around his staff, it was obvious that he was restraining himself from violence by a hair's breadth. The three students stepped back, alarmed, and for the first time in the years they had known each other, Nodoka saw something akin to terror on the usually unflappable Yue's face.

"Not one word out of you," he had snarled through gritted teeth, his anger palpable in the air and his eyes boiling with fury. "Not. One. _Word_. I don't want to hear any of your excuses. You will go downstairs, you will sit down, and I will deal with you after I've cleaned up this mess you've created. Go. _GO!_"

The last word had been roared at the top of his lungs when they had refused to move, but after that, they ran past him as fast as they could, not daring to look him in the eye or turn around. The door slammed shut behind them. Nodoka wanted to keep running away, all the way until that furious young man that Negi-sensei had turned into had disappeared and been replaced with the kind teacher she knew, but she knew that it was impossible.

Deep down, some primal instinct told her that running away wouldn't stop Negi Springfield from finding her.

They had been sitting there for what could have only been a few minutes, but to Nodoka, they felt far longer. Not one word was spoken, Negi's words still ringing in their ears. They took care even not too breathe too loudly. The only sounds in the room were the rain pattering against the windowpanes, the regular ticking of the old clock on the windowsill, and the wind howling outside.

After what felt like hours, the upstairs door to the lab was opened with a loud slam, and they glanced up to see Negi-sensei march down the stairs and over to his desk. He sat down, his expression unnaturally cold. They quickly returned to studying the hands in their laps, not daring to look him in the eye. Even Asuna was cowed. For a few moments, he said nothing, presumably studying them.

"Well?!" he barked out, making them flinch. "What have you got to say for yourselves?"

Asuna – brave, foolish Asuna – spoke up first. "Negi, this is—"

"No," he interrupted her harshly, his voice full of quiet fury. "Negi-_sensei_. You will call me Negi-sensei, Kagurazaka-san. I deserve that much respect, at least, even if the four of you have chosen to hold me in contempt in every other way possible."

"That's not true!" Nodoka burst out, looking up to stare pleadingly at Negi. His eyes were as hard as flint as they met hers, and she shuddered. "We were just… trying to… We didn't want to hurt you!"

"Is that so? How amusing. Let me rephrase my question, then," Negi said coolly, linking his hands as he leant back in his seat and studied the four of them with a sarcastic smirk. "Why, exactly, did you decide to break into my workroom, riffle through my belongings, and then go through my most private of possessions? Is there a good reason for that? I would _love_ to hear it."

The mocking sarcasm dripping from his voice was unlike anything they had ever heard before. Negi-sensei had always been polite, charming, and his admonishments had always been limited to gentle jibes and mock despair at their antics.

Now, his voice was full of angry bitterness, and Nodoka felt more and more horrible with every second that passed.

"No, you know what, ladies?" Negi continued. "I don't need to hear your excuses. I really don't." He opened a drawer in his desk, taking out a block of paper and a pen. "If you don't mind, I will now write the Headmaster to demand the immediate expulsion of the four of you from Mahora Academy."

"WHAT!?" Yue, Haruna and Asuna shouted in unison, the redhead even leaping to her feet. Nodoka's head snapped up, staring at Negi in mute horror.

"Honestly, there's nothing much else left to do," Negi muttered, and they watched the pen dance across the page quickly and efficiently as it formed the dreaded words. "I've caught you in flagrante delicto, even though I _trusted_ you not to do something outrageous such as breaking into my workroom, and now you refuse to even tell me _why_ you did it! What else am I meant to do, really? Wail like a child, beat my fists, and cry until you oblige me?" He snorted, setting his elegant signature under the paper. He forcefully capped his pen, glaring at them. "Yes, that hasn't happened in quite a while. Years, in fact. And as far as I'm concerned, it never will again."

"But—"

"You can go now," Negi said, waving them off and reaching for another stack of paperwork. "I've found that I can no longer enjoy your company. Your parents will receive their letters once Dean Konoemon has confirmed the measure, so that should be… about a week, tops? Enjoy the last of your time at Mahora, I say."

He glanced up after a moment to see them still standing there, shell-shocked. He frowned. "I thought I told you to leave."

"We know you're a mage!" Haruna suddenly shouted out. Nodoka's head snapped to her friend, her hands jumping to her mouth to stifle her squeak of shock. She saw Yue palm her face and groan, Asuna emphatically shaking her head, and Haruna with an expression of ecstatic triumph on her face.

Negi's eyes focused on the doujin artist with sudden intensity, carefully putting down his pen. "What," he asked slowly, "did you just call me?"

"A mage, a mage!" Haruna repeated excitedly, hands on hips and grinning widely at her teacher. Now that she had something to use against him, it seemed she had lost whatever fear of him she had. "You can do magic, right?"

Negi scoffed, though it looked forced and unnatural. "What a ridiculous idea. Spent a bit too much time reading your comic books, haven't you?"

"Ooh, denial!" Haruna crowed, still grinning. "But it's no use, Negi-sensei, you know! We saw the pictures and videos on your computer! The talking animal, the floating airship, that weird gun and sword, the things about the Empire and Union and other stuff… Hey, we know it all!"

Negi's eyes narrowed nearly imperceptibly, but Nodoka caught it anyways. "…Is that so?"

"Yeah, that's how it is!" Haruna said cheerfully, missing Negi's slight shift in posture. "So, if there's a secret society of mages, there are going to be rules about not telling the secret to normal people like us, right?"

"So what if there were?"

"Well, that would mean you're in trouble!" Haruna singsonged loudly, still grinning.

Negi raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Well…" Haruna drawled, secure in her victory. "If you promise not to tell the Dean about this, then I won't tell Asakura about any of this. I'm sure she'd love to splash this all over the city's newspapers. It might even hit the evening news on TV! Who knows?"

"Paru," Yue hissed, her expression tight with panic. "Shut up right now!"

"And if I refuse to cooperate?" Negi asked, his posture relaxed and his tone calm. His eyes, however, were cold.

"Then we tell Asakura, or one of Tokyo's big newspapers, or a TV station… The possibilities are endless! But if you just tear up that little letter there," Haruna said, crossing her arms and nudging her chin at Negi's missive, grinning, "then we won't tell anyone!"

Negi blinked once. "Promise?"

Haruna nodded once, her grin growing wider. "Promise!"

"I see." Negi nodded once, slowly, before smiling sardonically. "I refuse."

Haruna's expression slackened. "What."

"Honestly," Negi muttered. He raised his hand, waving it idly and speaking a harsh word in a tongue none of them knew. The door to the office, still wide open from Negi's haste in confronting the intruders, slammed shut as if forced by an invisible hand, the lock clicking locked on its own. "I truly thought the four of you would be cleverer than this."

Haruna tried to leap away, but Negi held up a hand. The air itself pushed against her in a rush of wind, forcing the artist firmly back into her seat. She stared at him, eyes widening in terror.

"A bit of advice," Negi continued, smiling pleasantly. "If you do decide to blackmail someone who you suspect has strange arcane powers that you know nothing about, don't tell him that to his face. Just pretend that nothing happened and make your leave." He laughed quietly to himself. "Of course, the point is moot with you lot, considering that I doubt you'll ever even _think_ of doing it again. Especially after I've explained to you the trouble you're in."

"What do you mean?" Yue asked, panic rising in her voice. "Are you going to hurt us?"

"If I had wanted to hurt or kill you, Akase-san, I would have done it the moment I stepped through that door. I would have simply electrocuted you all and deconstructed your remains to their base particles, disposing of them later. No witnesses, no bodies, no problem. For me, in any case."

Negi folded his hands on his desk, considering the teenagers before him calmly as they broke out into a cold sweat. He looked entirely unperturbed by the prospect of killing four people, something that made Nodoka's hands turn clammy.

He rolled his eyes. "You're lucky that I am the kind of mage that looks upon the murder of mundanes as something to be avoided instead of indulged in. And I'm the _exception_ to the rule."

"W-what do you mean?" Haruna asked, shivering.

Negi sighed, standing up and turning around to look at the window. "If you had successfully broken into the workshop of any wizard, magus, or other powerful practitioner of thaumaturgy, you would have been killed on the spot. That is, of course, if you weren't captured and violently tortured for information first. You see, entering another mage's workshop is usually tantamount to a declaration of war, considering you're basically snooping around to learn your enemy's skills and weaknesses, looking for a way to kill him or her."

Nodoka shuddered, realizing how very close the four of them had been from death. If Negi-sensei hadn't known them to be his students…

"And even if you _had_ managed to get away with the knowledge of magic, you wouldn't be able to just publicize the secret. You would need proof." Negi turned around, hands clasped behind his back. "Apart from the testimony of four impressionable youths, you have absolutely _none_, Saotome-san. You could have gone to any publicist, journalist, or newspaper editor, and they would have laughed you out of your office before you finished telling your tale."

His face darkened, grimacing as if he had smelled something vile. "Be _glad_ you didn't have any proof, Saotome-san. Otherwise, the Mage's Association wouldn't have waited very long to hunt you down."

"Mage's Association?" Asuna asked faintly. "There's an entire _group_ of you?"

"Of course there is," Negi said, snorting contemptuously. "And there's not only just one group of mages. There is the Clock Tower of London, the Sea of Estray in the Northern Atlantic, Atlas Academy of the Middle East… But these are only the three biggest branches of the Mage's Association. There are literally _dozens_ of smaller ones spread out all over the world, with thousands of members. And that count excludes all those practitioners of magic without enough talent to be accepted as one. All the branches answer to a governing body of our elders. We generally call it the White Council.

"You were right, Saotome-san," Negi continued, red-brown eyes boring into theirs, his expression grim. "There are rules about revealing the secrets of the existence of thaumaturgy. And they are enforced _very_ harshly."

"And how are they enforced?" Haruna asked defiantly.

"If you are merely an innocent witnessing an act of thaumaturgy…" Negi idly waved two fingers in a figure of eight. The pen lifted from his desk and floated freely in the air, turning lazily. Something twisted in Nodoka's gut at the unnatural sight, and she felt something eerie crawl over her skin like an insect.

"Well, then there is no punishment. At first. We simply erase that person's memory of the event in question. If you know of our secrets and _deliberately_ try to expose the existence of thaumaturgy to the world, however…"

Negi closed his fist. The metal fountain pen crumbled like a sheet of paper, splattering ink across the desk. The girls flinched.

"Then everyone involved is killed on the spot."

"…You're serious," Haruna whispered, her face pale as she looked at him. "You're actually serious about all of this. All this stuff about magical groups, and us getting killed if we tell anyone…"

Negi gave her a ghost of a smile. "Deadly serious, I assure you." He glanced at the letter on his desk, now splotched with ink and unreadable. "I liked that pen."

"Why are you telling us this?!" Asuna demanded loudly, fear and anger warring in her eyes. "Why don't you kill us like you said you would!?"

Negi sighed. "If you had actually _listened_ to what I was saying, Kagurazaka-san, then you would have heard that I specifically did _not_ want to kill you."

"And why not?" Yue piped up carefully. "If you have to follow the rules like everyone else—"

"I am not a monster," Negi interrupted her, his voice suddenly angry, silencing her. "I'm a human being, Akase-san. I can't stand seeing people pointlessly killed. Look at you!" He pointed at them, eyes blazing. "You're _children_, for God's sake! Stupid children, perhaps, but you still have your entire life ahead of you! Do you honestly think that I _want_ all of you to die!?"

His shoulders slumped, and he sighed, falling back into his seat like a corpse with his eyes closed. "…And you're my students," he added quietly. "I'm a _teacher_ now. I'm supposed to help you become adults, to help you grow into the wonderful persons you are going to be one day. How could I possibly kill you?"

They remained silent, unsure of what to do or say.

Negi pulled himself together, straightening his back and taking a deep breath. "Right," he said, his eyes snapping open. "I would offer to erase your memories of this conversation, but I'm afraid that's impossible."

"And why is that?" Haruna asked cautiously.

"Three reasons," Negi answered crisply. "One, Kagurazaka-san seems somehow immune to the effects of my memory modification spell. Either I wipe all of your memories, or none at all. It's a security risk. She might trigger your memories by pure accident. Two, it's difficult to dislodge a memory that is already heavily ingrained. The more time it spends taking root in a person's mind without any other explanation to cover for it, the more difficult it is to erase or modify it. And three," and here he gave them a rather sheepish grin, "…Well, mind magic isn't exactly my forte, I'm afraid."

"And what does _that_ mean?" Asuna asked rebelliously. "You tried to wipe mine, remember?"

"It means that if I were to try to erase this conversation from your memories now, then I might accidentally destroy your minds and leave you as gibbering vegetables. An outcome we all want to avoid, I'm sure."

Nodoka gathered up what little courage she could reach through her fear. "N-Negi-sensei," she began quietly, not really trusting her words. "What _is_ your specialty, exactly?"

He gave her a faint, regretful smile. "Battlefield magic."

She shuddered, looking away.

"Now," Negi continued sternly as they digested the implications of his words, "we need to make sure that you understand what happens now. You are not allowed to tell _anyone_ about what you saw or heard today. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Negi-sensei, I think we get it," Yue muttered sarcastically. "You were rather insistent about that, considering all the death threats you made."

A little smile ghosted across their teacher's face. "All for the sake of impressing the seriousness of the situation on you, I assure you. Now, if anyone talks to you about magic or something similar, just deny what you know and saw and tell me as soon as you can. If you can't reach me, go find Takamichi or Dean Konoemon."

"Takahata-sensei is a mage?!" Asuna asked incredulously. Nodoka thought she even looked a little hurt.

"No, not exactly," Negi said evasively. "They'll both know what to do, though. Don't tell _anyone_ except them."

"We get it already," Haruna muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose in a harried manner. "No talking, or we might just get killed."

"Not just you," Negi said sharply, recapturing their attention. "If they suspect you've spread the secret of thaumaturgy to anyone else, the Association will simply track down anyone you know and either wipe their memories of your existence, or simply kill them."

Haruna blinked, adjusting her glasses. "You're kidding, sensei, right?"

He snorted, darkly amused. "I wish. Pets, family, colleagues, classmates… They're thorough that way."

"Right," Yue said, throwing a significant look at Haruna. "No telling anyone _at all_, Paru, understand?"

"I think she got it after the first death threat aimed at everyone in our class," Asuna muttered, the redhead shooting a glare at Negi, who just shrugged helplessly.

"…Okay, is there anything else we should know?" Asuna asked flippantly. "Anything else your people are going to take away from us if we tell anyone about this?"

"I don't think you quite understand the seriousness of your situation, Kagurazaka-san," Negi said reproachfully, peering at them sternly through his pince-nez.

"Gee, you think?!"

"Do you think this is a game, Kagurazaka-san?" Negi said sharply, leaning forward, his eyes intense. "Magic is not a fairy tale. It is a quantifiable reality that can be manipulated by anyone who has the skills and talent to do so. Magic is _not_ just a harmless flight of fancy. It is quite possibly the fundamental basis of reality as we know it. Or rather, as _I_ know it." He looked each of them in the eye, his gaze deadly serious. "There are as many ways to use magic as there are people in the world. It can be used to heal people and help them, but it can as easily be used for violence, torture, and murder. Trust me, I _know_.

"And there are… other dangers. Beasts that lurk in the darkness, hunting for weak-minded and feeble prey." His eyes landed on Nodoka. "You've read many books about nature, right, Miyazaki-san?"

Thrown by the sudden question, the librarian nodded. "Y-yes, Negi-sensei."

"Well, in the wild, humanity no longer has a true, persistent predator. We outsmarted them, outran them, fashioned tools and banded together to eradicate them, to protect ourselves. In the darkness, when the sun grows dark and the borders of the world begin to thin?" Negi shuddered, his eyes growing distant. "There are animals and beasts far, _far_ worse than anything you possibly can imagine. Predators that are cleverer, smarter, and more powerful than any of us could ever be."

Asuna scoffed. "And we're supposed to believe this?"

Negi barked out a humourless laugh. "Have you ever heard of demons, Kagurazaka-san? Oh, they exist, and they're not exactly the friendliest of neighbours to us humans. Carrying off children, murdering lonely wanderers that infringe on their territory by accident, shapeshifters tricking humans into committing horrible crimes against their fellow men, twisting their mind beyond recognition…

"And they're not the only mystery left hidden in this world. You _don't_ want to meet the Faeries, or any of the Phantasmal Beasts that still roam the hidden alcoves of this planet. And then there are the ghosts of haunted men and women that plague the living, driving them to insanity or death; or the Outsiders that stalk humans for their entire lives, drinking in their prey's fear, _relishing_ in it before slowly murdering them…"

He finally choked, growing silent. The others stared at him, bewildered. Negi looked genuinely terrified, his face ashen and his eyes looking past them at something they couldn't see. He shook himself, his eyes focussing on them again.

"…To them, we're nothing more than a particularly intelligent ape. Dangerous, perhaps," and here he gave them a mirthless grin, "but to them, that only makes the hunt more enjoyable."

"…So what should we do if we meet any of those?" Yue asked quietly.

He shrugged helplessly. "When in doubt, run and find me as fast as you can. If you're lucky, I'll be able to protect you. If you're unlucky, well…" His voice drifted off, and he shot them an apologetic look. "I'm afraid that there's nothing I can do."

A moment of leaden silence followed, broken only by the pattering of the rain and the sound of the wind rushing outside.

"…Negi-sensei, c-could we please go now?" Nodoka asked timidly.

He sighed. "Yes, you can go now," he said quietly, waving them off. He glanced at the clock on the windowsill. "It's long past curfew, in any case."

"Thank you," Nodoka said quietly as they all rose and turned to leave.

"One last thing, if you please."

They turned to look over their shoulders, and Negi stood up from behind his desk, bracing himself on it. He looked tired, but his eyes were bright and piercing.

"Don't think that I've forgiven you for invading my privacy," he said, and even though his voice was weary, they could all hear the reproach in it clearly. Nodoka winced guiltily, looking away, and Asuna, Yue, and Haruna looked equally uncomfortable.

"You did something far worse than just break into your teacher's office, you know," Negi continued as he ran a hand through his messy red hair, his tone weary. "You betrayed my trust. You uncovered my secrets; secrets that I wanted to keep hidden because they reminded me of events that are best left to the past, where they cannot hurt anyone. Least of all innocent, helpless people like you."

"We're sorry, Negi-sensei," Nodoka whispered, hoping that his words would stop cutting her to the core. "We didn't want to hurt you."

"But you managed to do it anyway," Negi said, a ghost of a smile dancing across his face. It looked bitter. "I think you understand that simply saying 'sorry' doesn't suffice, right?"

They all unenthusiastically muttered agreement. He laughed quietly.

"I won't have you expelled," he said, smiling weakly at them. "I'm not cruel, and I still need to keep an eye on you, no? Suspension for ten days sounds like enough punishment, I think. Go see the Dean tomorrow; he'll take care of the details.

"…I'm disappointed in you, you know," he added after a moment. "Especially you, Miyazaki-san. I thought you would have more respect for other people's privacy."

Nodoka nodded, knowing that even though he no longer seemed angry, it was quite clear that they were no longer welcome to visit Negi's study for extra English lessons, or to discuss the merits of English and Japanese poetry with him. He looked cold and wary now, all the pleasant light in his eyes gone. It twisted her stomach, knowing that it was all her fault.

"Go on, hop to it," he said, sitting back down with a sigh. "I still have papers to mark, and you have to rehearse your excuses for your parents when they hear from the Dean that you were suspended from school. Get some sleep, you'll need it. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Negi-sensei." "Night, sensei." "See ya, Negi."

The others quickly disappeared, but Nodoka hesitated at the doorway. Negi looked up to see her still stand there, nervously wringing her hands.

"What is it, Miyazaki-san?" he asked neutrally, peering over his pince-nez at her.

"Sensei, that woman you were dancing with, the one in your diary…"

His face went carefully blank. "What about her?"

Nodoka summoned all the courage she had left, looking him in the eye and facing him dead on. "Who was she to you?"

Something fell away from his mask, and it was only now that Nodoka noticed how very tired and haggard he looked. It made him appear ten years older than he was.

"Someone I cared for very much," he answered quietly, his eyes growing distant. "She was my greatest success and my greatest failure." He laughed once, bitterly. "Strange, really. Life has some funny ways of tripping up those fools too arrogant to think ahead. Or the ones too preoccupied to see what was right under their nose the entire time."

His left hand reached for the golden ring on his right index finger, twisting it around the digit. He looked lost and haggard, his head bowed and his expression twisted in melancholy.

"…Sensei?"

His eyes sharpened again, focusing on her as he was woken from his reverie, before returning to the stack of paperwork before him. He let go of the ring around his finger. "Leave me, Miyazaki-san. Please."

Nodoka heard the plea in his last word, and nodded. "Goodnight, sensei."

She moved to close the door, but the rustle of paper stopped her. "…Miyazaki-san."

Nodoka cautiously peered through the gap of the door. Negi sat at his desk, the dim and lonely light of his desk lamp the only thing illuminating him against the darkness of the stormy night outside. He didn't look up, his eyes already skimming over paper after paper.

"If you see anyone wearing a grey cloak, don't wait for him to talk to you. Find me _immediately_, alright? It's important."

"Sensei?"

Negi looked up, his eyes piercing and earnest. "If he's already drawn his sword, run as fast as you can. Don't stop for anything. Find me immediately." He looked back down, returning to his work. "Do that, and you might just live. If not…"

She waited for him to say more, but he remained silent, absorbed in his work. She nodded before moving to close the door behind her. "Goodnight, sensei."

"A good night's sleep, don't I wish…" she heard him mutter, and then she moved down the corridor to find her own room.

It would be a while before any of them would fall asleep tonight.

…

He ran. He ran as he fast as he could, his breath coming out in panicked gasps and his feet splashing loudly as they crossed growing puddles of rainwater. For a moment, he thought he might have _finally_ lost his pursuer, but then the streetlamp ahead of him flickered and died, plunging the sidewalk in darkness.

He stopped dead in his tracks when a figure stepped out of the dark shadows. A mouth was bared in a wide grin, sharp white fangs gleaming in the darkness.

"You really wanna make this difficult for me, buddy?" the figure spoke. Its voice was a low, feral growl that was definitely _not_ normal. In fact, it sounded too deep to be entirely human.

He merely whimpered, turning around and taking off as fast in the other direction as he could.

The figure sighed, cracking its neck twice. "Guess not," he muttered, and then he grinned again. "Well, it's more fun running down prey, if ya ask me."

And then he leapt after him, the shadows curling around him like a withering mass of serpents.

The 'prey' in question ran as fast as his stubby legs could possibly carry him, his mind reeling as he tried to figure out how that _thing_ had managed to track him down. They had been warned that something strange was going on in Kyoto lately, damn it, so why hadn't he been more careful!? Why hadn't he listened to what the Elders of the Association had been sayi—

A streetlight a few dozens of metres down the street suddenly spluttered, bathing the street in light and darkness. He blinked once, and suddenly the _thing_ was there, casually leaning against the post of the streetlight. It waved at him, grinning maniacally.

Then the light died like all the others, plunging the entire street into darkness.

He did the first thing he thought of to save his skin, diving into the small side alley stuck between the two buildings next to him and running for his life. He passed trashcans and kicked them over in a blind panic to gain just a little bit more time, turning corners as fast as he could to confuse _whatever the hell it was_ that was following him, fingering the paper talisman hung around his neck, his mind reeling off prayers begging _anyone_ for help—

There was a stairway with a metal door in the back of the ugly concrete building, an old lamp flickering above it. Hope blossomed in his chest. He would be safe if he could just pass the house's threshold. He practically flew up the stairs, his hand slamming down on the door's metal handle.

It didn't budge. He rattled at it in panic, but it remained frozen.

A dead end. It was a dead end.

"Oi, oi," the thing's voice called out behind him, sounding bored. "Aren't you kinda out of breath, old man? You've seen better days, that's for sure."

The portly man whirled around, his back flattened against the cold metal door and his face pale with terror. The thing approached at a leisurely walk, hands in its pockets and an annoyed expression on its face. It looked like nothing more than a lanky, male human youth, its dark hair reaching out in spikes, a style common to many delinquents that hung around the shopping districts of the city.

When the corner of the youth's lip lifted in a snarl, however, revealing a large fang, it became clear that _whatever_ this thing was, it wasn't human.

"Honestly," the thing growled, running a hand through its spiky hair and shooting the man before it an aggravated look. "Did you really think you could run away? _You?!_ Damn, you look as if you haven't left your house in about twenty years, man. A little cardio would be great for your blood pressure."

"God, please don't do this—"

"Shut it. I don't want to hear your yammering. Always the same, really; the song and dance gets boring after a while..." The thing considered him for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well, considering your blood is gonna get painted all over the walls soon, it doesn't really matter, I guess…"

"Oh, spirits above and below," he begged, his fingers clasping on the talisman around his neck. "Don't do this; _please don't do this_—"

"Sorry, pal," the thing said, stepping closer. At the edge of the darkness, tendrils of shadow licked at the flickering gloom cast by the old bulb. "Business is business, you know, and I gotta earn my daily rice like everyone else around here. You make talismans for the tourists, I kill folks. Takes many different sorts to make a world. Easy-peasy, circle of life, don't you think?"

"Please," he pleaded again, trying to edge away. "I got a wife and kids—"

"Sucks for them, really," the thing interrupted, sounding unconcerned. "Should'a thought of keeping your fat nose outta other people's business before that, pal. Bye, now. See you around." It grinned, lifting a hand. "Or not."

The thing pointed idly at the cowering man, snapping its fingers once.

And then the shadows _leapt_ at him like a living wave, snuffing out the light and engulfing the man in darkness. The old talisman seller screamed, a piteous howl that echoed around the confined space of the alley and beyond. Snapping, tearing, and ripping sounds followed, and soon the screams ended.

When the light flickered on again, blood was dripping down the stairs.

…

The cheerful summer weather outside – a beautifully shining sun, a gorgeous blue sky, and little clouds – belied the grim mood that could be found inside the Dean's office at Mahora Academy.

"_Another_ murder?" Negi asked incredulously. "Please tell me you're joking."

Dean Konoemon looked grim. "Unfortunately, it's no joke." He opened a folder, turning it around on his desk so that it faced Negi and Seruhiko. "These are pictures from yesterday's crime scene."

The headmaster's assistant grew dangerously pale when he saw them. "I think I'm going to be sick," he muttered, breathing deeply and looking away.

"If you have to vomit, please do it somewhere else," Negi said absentmindedly, spreading out the pictures on the desk before him. He frowned. "…Well. I never thought the human body had that much blood in it."

Konoemon raised an intrigued eyebrow. "I thought that someone in… your line of business would have experience with this sort of thing."

"True," Negi acknowledged, not looking up from his serious consideration of the bloody mess before him. "But you'll have to remember that most of my… earlier work was either at very long range, so I saw very little of the damage I caused, or that it was mostly against enemies that…" He hesitated for a moment. "Well, they weren't exactly what you would call _human_, in the strictest sense."

"Ah, yes," the headmaster said, nodding gravely. "The conflict was very much delineated along racial lines, if I recall."

"Understatement of the century," Negi muttered as he skimmed over the folder's content, glancing up at the headmaster. "How did you come by this? There's detailed photographs, the police report about the incident, local news clippings… This all seems rather detailed, considering you told me that it's dangerous for any of your mages to enter Kyoto right now. This only happened last night, no?"

"We have a high-placed informant in the Kansai Magic Association," Konoemon said, folding his hands before him.

"Ah," Negi said, nodding once. "I understand. His or her identity is need-to-know, I assume?"

"Correct." The old man's mouth quirked in a smile, and one of his eyes opened to shrewdly consider the young man before him. "You've done this sort of thing before, haven't you?"

Negi shrugged. "I've had enough opportunities in the five years before joining the faculty here." He leaned back into his seat. "What I don't understand is the reason why I'm here, to be honest. It's not as if I am a member of your association."

Konoemon gave him a rather rueful smile. "I'm still rather peeved that you rejected my offer right out of hand, you know."

Negi scratched his neck, looking sheepish. "It's nothing to do with you, sir," he said awkwardly. "I just dislike being dragged into arguments that have nothing to do with me. Especially the magical kind. Things tend to explode."

"Didn't you swear that you would protect, guide and help the innocent and helpless?" Konoemon asked. "Those are your duties as a magister magus, after all."

"And the way I interpret my oath is my business and mine alone," Negi retorted evenly, his eyes calm. "Don't try to guilt me into joining your merry band of men, sir. It's neither honourable nor honest."

"True enough, I'll admit," the Dean agreed, smiling. "I apologize for that. I just hoped that you had changed your mind."

Negi smiled back. "I would have been surprised if you had given up after just one attempt, sir."

Seruhiko coughed into his fist. "Gentlemen, if we could please return to the matter at hand…"

Negi reached out with a scarred hand, tapping one of the photos on the desk with a thin smile. "If you're looking for _his_ hand, it's over there. Bit too disconnected from the torso to be entirely healthy, if you ask me—"

Seruhiko clenched his eyes shut, grimacing. "Negi-sensei, please don't say things like that."

"I guess levity really isn't appropriate in this situation," Negi mused aloud. "Especially when a crime scene looks more like a slaughterhouse."

Seruhiko clamped a hand over his mouth, heaving. Negi didn't bat an eye as he re-examined the pictures of the crime scene.

"I can understand why Seruhiko-sensei is here," he finally said. "He's your man examining the news and rumours coming out of the Kansai region, after all."

"And the news is uniformly grim for us," Dean Konoemon said thoughtfully, twirling his goatee around his index finger. "Last night's victim was identified by the police as a vendor of homemade talismans at the Kamo Shrine and the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. He was also a highly respected member of the Kansai Branch Association's Council of Elders."

"I understand that his death is a terrible loss for the Kansai Branch," Negi threw in. "But how does it concern us?"

The old dean sighed. "This is the fifth murder of a mage in the Kyoto region in the last two weeks. All of the victims were influential and respected members of the Kansai Branch, and all of them had been involved in disputes with our branch of the Association in one way or another." He shrugged helplessly. "Most of them were opposed to our group, advocating for the Kansai Branch cutting all ties with the Kanto Branch. Mostly unresolved tension over past grievances and mutual mistrust."

Negi frowned. "So their murders would benefit your group by eliminating those opposed to dealing with you. In theory."

"Exactly," the dean confirmed leadenly. "As if we ever would resort to such underhanded tactics."

Negi scoffed, but held his tongue.

"Sir, it honestly doesn't matter whether we would or not," Seruhiko cut in, his face having regained some measure of colour. His eyes avoided the pictures on the desktop, however, focussing sharply on his employer. "The fact of the matter is that we are getting blamed for these murders. The anti-Kanto faction's clout in Kyoto has grown exponentially, and it's only getting worse every day. There's been talk of reprisals, though their Elders have tried to cool tempers."

"Unsuccessfully, it seems," Negi commented with a sigh. "Superb. What do _I_ have to do with this, though? I'm just a schoolteacher."

Seruhiko threw him a disbelieving look. "Is this another one of your tasteless jokes?"

Negi's brow furrowed. "I beg your pardon?"

"No offense to you, Negi-sensei," Seruhiko muttered, looking away from his sharp eyes, "but you're hardly 'just' any schoolteacher. Your employment at Mahora Academy was talked about for weeks in the Kansai Branch after your arrival, you know."

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Negi challenged his colleague, sitting up straight and gripping the sides of his chair fiercely.

"What it means, Negi-sensei," the Dean intervened with a conciliatory tone of voice and a smile, "is that for quite a while, the Kansai Branch was quite afraid of the prospect of having you as their enemy. Words like 'power imbalance' and 'threat display' were bandied about, I think."

"Wonderful," Negi said with heartfelt disgust, slumping in his chair. "Honestly, I wish that people would stop treating me as a walking weapon of mass destruction. It's not as if I have proven to be a particularly reliable one."

Dean Konoemon coughed into his sleeve. "Well, about the reason for your presence here—"

"If you are asking me to fight at your side against the Kansai Branch, sir, the answer is no," Negi said immediately. "I've had my fill of war. It's not an experience I particularly want to relive."

"I would _never_ ask something like that of you, Negi Springfield," the Dean said sharply, his eye snapping open and staring severely at the youth before him. "Do you honestly think me some sort of warmonger? That I enjoy seeing the suffering and death of my friends, comrades, and countless innocent people? _Really?!_"

An awkward silence fell over the room. Negi looked away from the Dean's stern gaze, bowing at the waist. "Forgive me, sir. I didn't think about my words."

The old man's eye softened at Negi's obvious chagrin. "Apology accepted, young man." He chuckled. "Just remember that you're not the only one to have lived through a war."

A corner of Negi's mouth quirked up in a rueful smirk. "I'll try to remind Chamo to mock me for my hormonal attitude, sir. He thinks it great fun, and it keeps me humble." He shifted to full alertness in his chair, folding his hands on top of his knees. "Now, how can I help you resolve this mess?"

The Dean let out a laugh, his earrings tingling as he shook his head with mirth. "Getting straight to the point, aren't you? Good." He drummed his fingers on his oaken desktop, humming thoughtfully to himself. "…I want to send you as my emissary to the Kansai Branch."

Negi blinked. "Er, what? Didn't you just say that they consider me a walking disaster just waiting to happen?"

"Yes and no," Seruhiko offered quickly. "They know you have power, Negi-sensei. Your reputation from the war is well-known, even in the Old World. However, they'll consider you a neutral party."

"But why?" Negi gave the two older men a puzzled frown. "I picked my loyalties when I became a peacekeeper five years ago, didn't I?"

The Dean nodded. "You picked your loyalties in Mundus Magicus, certainly." His face fell slightly, growing more sombre and losing its mischievous air. He aged ten years on the spot. "On this side of the gate, loyalties are… more difficult to discern. And decidedly more fluid, unfortunately."

"Politics," Negi muttered, grimacing at no-one in particular. "Can't stand it, can't live without it."

Seruhiko smiled sheepishly. "In any case, the fact that you haven't joined the Kantou Branch is well-known in Kyoto, and your dislike of London's Clock Tower and the White Council in general is no secret to those who have heard of your… previous clashes with authority."

"You mean the time I told the entire High Command of the Megalomesembrian Union to bugger off?" Negi asked drily. "They never quite forgave me for that, even if they didn't punish me for it."

"In any case," Dean Konoemon continued, a wry grin wrinkling his cheeks, "you are the closest thing to a neutral party we have in the country right now that is both respected and has enough power to back up their authority."

"What about the Church?" Negi asked absentmindedly. "They usually have no stake in the affairs of mages, do they?"

Seruhiko's smile vanished, and he looked uncomfortable. "Well, there is very little chance of any member of the Association trusting the Church as an institution in this day and age, to be honest."

"Really? Why?"

"Didn't you hear? Ever since the Second Fuyuki Incident a few years ago, relations between the Church and the White Council have been rather frosty. Apparently, they trusted the local priest in Fuyuki to work as a mediator in a dispute between different mages. It turned out the priest had tried to hijack the argument for his own benefit, or something along those lines." Seruhiko frowned. "The Association and the White Council have been surprisingly tight-lipped about what happened, though. It's a mystery."

Negi glanced away, saying nothing.

"…So although it may _look_ as if the Church has no interest in our internal disputes, we can't trust them not to front their own agenda in secret," Negi surmised after a brief silence.

The Dean nodded. "Exactly. The Kansai Branch would never accept their interference."

Negi's expression turned sour. "Politics," he repeated. "Takamichi can't do it either, can he? He has as much respect and power as I do, probably more."

Seruhiko shook his head. "He's in Africa, unfortunately. Events in Libya have apparently overtaken him."

"Fighting the good fight, as always, I suppose," Negi sighed. He looked from the Dean to his older colleague, his expression resigned. "So it falls to me to make sure that this whole mess doesn't explode into a civil war, doesn't it?"

"For what it's worth, Negi-sensei," the Dean said quietly, "I am truly sorry that I have to ask you to do this."

"Oh, spare me. I would have helped anyway. So, I'll have to find a good pretext to go to Kyoto," Negi said quietly to himself as he rose from his chair. "I'll need to ask Chamo if he has any contacts in the region, prepare my equipment, get supplies… Hell, this is probably going to turn bloody no matter how hard we try to avoid conflict."

The Dean frowned deeply. "Why would you say that, Negi-sensei?"

A mirthless smile flashed across the young teacher's face. He tapped one of the pictures. "Have you seen the state of that body, sir? The victim has been _literally_ torn limb from limb. His eyes have been torn out, his flesh shredded to ribbons, and his entrails ripped out. No human being has the sort of strength to tear apart a human body without a lever, and _very_ few have the propensity for such wanton brutality. But that's not what worries me."

Negi reached out to another picture, and the Dean leaned closer to peer at the high-definition picture of the victim's throat, the flesh of the trachea and larynx hanging off in bloody tatters and exposing the man's bone-white spine below ripped veins and arteries.

"Those are teeth marks, sir," Negi said quietly. "The only way this amount of damage could have been dealt is if something had literally torn out the victim's throat. But the maw necessary to do that is too big for any wild or domesticated dog you could find in Japan."

"Demons," Seruhiko breathed, his face pale again.

"Demons," Negi agreed. He snapped the folder shut and tucked it under his arm. "Or it might be a vengeful spirit, a bloodthirsty youkai, a demented faerie, or something equally unpleasant. In any case, something is going around killing all these people, and whoever – or _whatever_ – is controlling this beast is trying to instigate a civil war between us mages in Japan. To what end?" He shrugged, looking grim. "I have no idea, but it cannot possibly be good."

"So what can we do?" the Dean asked, rising from his seat as Negi made his way towards the door.

Negi stopped with his hand on the doorknob, shrugging once. "We track down the real killer and offer his head on a silver plate to the Kansai Branch. What else can we do, really?"

"And you can do that?"

Negi looked up, and his smile was _terrifying_. "Oh, not all monsters have horns, claws, and fangs, you know. Some of them look quite human."

And with that last comment, he walked out of Dean Konoemon's office, silently closing the door behind him. The man himself sat down at his desk again, looking weary.

"…Sir, was that wise, sending him?" Seruhiko asked worriedly. "Negi Springfield's reputation from the war isn't entirely wholesome, you know!"

"I'm well aware, Seruhiko-sensei. But do we _really_ have a choice in the matter, my friend?" The Dean opened one eye, peering at his assistant with a grim look. "I cannot leave the Academy for very long, and no other member of the Kanto Branch can match him in power. The fools in Kyoto will have no choice but to take him seriously."

"Sir, this is the _Oncoming Storm_ we're talking about!" Seruhiko protested in a hissed whisper. "A man who singlehandedly destroyed battleships, who flattened entire armies during the war! And don't forget whose son he is, either! For all we know, he might just set off the powder keg we're all sitting on!"

"Then we can only pray that young Negi Springfield has learned the value of restraint, unlike his father," the Dean muttered, looking very old and tired. "Because there's not much else we can do."

…

The dark-haired youth kicked open the door, walking into the cheap apartment with his hands in his pockets. "Anyone home?" he called out cheekily.

"You," an annoyed woman's voice answered from the living room, "are _late_."

The youth ignored her as he walked into the kitchen, humming a tune under his breath as he grabbed a beer can from the fridge. He sauntered into the dingy living room, vaulting over the ledge of a sofa. The worn leather groaned under his weight, and he grinned at his glaring employer as he made himself comfortable.

"That really couldn't be helped," he said as he popped the tab on his beer, swallowing the cheap brew greedily. "Cops were swarming all over the district. I had to lay low so they wouldn't ask uncomfortable questions."

The man sitting on the other end of the couch scoffed, breaking out into his Cockney brogue. "Please don't tell me that a bunch of mortals could have done you in, laddie. I already have little respect for you as it is."

The youth turned his head towards the man, baring teeth. He was of medium height, but heavily built with muscle in his broad form, with a few too many beers lounging around his belt. He wore a cheap brown suit, and his face was that of water-worn stone – blunt and rounded – with small, hard grey-green eyes inlaid in them.

Right now, he was mockingly smiling at the youth, and he didn't like it.

"Watch your words, _gaijin_," the youth spoke contemptuously. "I have no trouble killing police. It just would have been too much hassle to get free afterwards. The cops don't like someone killing their own. They always get into a hissy fit about it, and by the time it's over, there are dozens of corpses scattered all over the place. Don't make me add you to the list."

"Ooh, am I supposed to be scared?" the man asked, grinning nastily. "By you? Honestly, if you're terrified by a few puny little mortals with guns, I have no idea how you plan on pulling your weight with my illustrious company around."

"That's cool, man, really," the youth retorted, rolling his eyes as he took another gulp. "If all I was able to do was summon beasts from the spirit world and cower behind them like a damned coward, I'd probably grow as fat and lazy as you. Thanks, but no thanks."

"Shut up, the both of you!" A vein started to throb by the young woman's temple, and she rammed her glasses back up her nose, glaring at the two of them. "_Men._ Do you always have to compare size?"

"If you want to find out who's bigger, you're always welcome for a free ride," the youth quipped.

She scowled. "Funny. I like my dates _human_, thank you very much."

"Hey, I am human!" the youth protested. He thought about it for a moment. "Well, half," he conceded with a gulp of his beer. "I don't think it'd be fun, being all that clumsy and squishy." He glanced at the summoner next to him and grinned. "Or fat."

"Say that again to my face, _youkai_," the man said amiably, though his eyes were cold. "See where it gets you."

"Sure, Buddha. I'll remember that."

The foreigner snarled, his fist snapping towards the youth's face at about the same time one of the youth's hands came up to block the strike, his fingers growing into long claws aiming to tear the summoner's face off.

Both blows were intercepted before they could land, delicate hands encasing their wrists in a rocklike grip. The grey-haired teenager that had stood at their employer's shoulder only a moment ago looked down at them as they struggled with him, his face showing complete disinterest.

"…Are you two quite done?" he asked, his voice a flat monotone. It was absolutely dull and lifeless, and it was impossible to tell his heritage from his accent alone. His grey eyes went from one to the other with supreme indifference, his thin, slender built belying the sheer strength at his disposal.

The dark-haired half-demon snarled at him, only to yelp as his wrist was squeezed with the tightness of a vice. From the way the summoner's face paled, the same pressure was applied to him.

"Are you two quite done?" the grey-haired teenager repeated once more.

"I'm done, damn it!" the summoner swore, and he stumbled up as the grey-haired youth released his wrist, letting out a litany of foul English curses.

"Alright, you dumb bastard, I give up!" the _hanyou_ snapped out. His hand was released immediately, and he rubbed his wrist, glaring at the youth standing over him. The teenager just looked at him blankly for a moment before walking around the sofa to join his employer's side once more.

She just sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Honestly, from the way you lot argue, you'd think I was managing a kindergarten, not a bunch of hired mercenaries," she groused.

"Hey, if I'd had my way, you wouldn't need anyone else but me," the hanyou muttered, stretching his legs out on the coffee table. "I work alone. Teamwork ain't exactly my biggest strength, you know."

"And I've never _needed_ allies before," the summoner declared, his eye twitching. "Once I've summoned my friends from the other side, it doesn't matter how many enemies I'm up against."

"Binder, shut your trap!" the young woman screeched. "And Inugami, you do the same! Look, if we _want_ this plan to be successful, then we need to work together, alright?! Every single one of us doing their own thing at random is just going to end up in chaos!"

Koutarou Inugami just shrugged, though he looked annoyed at her shrill tone. "You're the boss lady. As long as I get paid, I'll do as I'm told."

Binder shot the half-demon an annoyed look, then nodded. "For once, I agree with the hellspawn."

Koutarou flipped him the bird. "I'm not a _Christian_ demon, numbnuts. Get your mythology right."

"We're going to have to change the plan," Amagasaki Chigusa announced before another argument could break out. She scowled, adjusting her large spectacles. "Unfortunately, a few… complicating variables have turned up."

"Complicating variables?" Binder repeated with a sarcastic drawl. "How cute. Is this another one of these minor details you get your undies in a twist about, love?"

Chigusa snorted, slapping a plastic folder onto the coffee table. Pictures of a redheaded young man spilled out of it. "If you call having the Oncoming Storm crash our little gathering a 'minor detail', then I'd call you an idiot for not having a sense of scale."

Kotarou slowly took his feet off the table, studying the pictures with sudden intensity. "I've heard about this guy…"

"As you should have, even if you only pretended to be any good at this job," Chigusa said icily. "Negi Springfield, one of the youngest Magister Magi in history at fifteen years old. Used to fight on the side of the Union during the Second Great Magical War in Mundus Magicus. Now, apparently, lives the simple life of a sixteen year-old English teacher at Mahora Academy. _He_ is the Kanto Branch's emissary to Kyoto."

"…_Bollocks_," Binder swore succinctly, scowling. "A boy with that level of power… How will this change our plans, then?"

"The basic plan remains the same," Chigusa snapped, crossing her arms under her chest and scowling. "We whip up chaos until the two branches of the Association fight each other—"

"—And then nab the bloody princess, fair enough," Binder interrupted, harrumphing in annoyance. "But this was _before_ one of the most powerful wizards on the White Council decided to poke his nose into our operation. How do you plan on stopping him from reducing us all to bloody smears on the wall, pray?"

A nasty smirk spread across Chigusa's lips. "He's a teacher, remember? And guess what – he'll be visiting Kyoto with his students. A field trip, apparently."

Binder's eyes lit up, and a gleeful grin spread across his face. "Oho. Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"This better not be about taking hostages," Koutarou complained. "I _hate_ babysitting. Bunch'a noisy brats. Always crying and wailing and calling for their mamas."

"What, you have any better ideas? You think you can take the Oncoming Storm head on?" Binder challenged him.

A fierce grin split the hanyou's face. "'S a matter of fact, I think I do." He raised his hands in a placating manner when all eyes in the room landed on him. "Look, this guy is a Western mage, isn't he? And he's fought in a big war up in the mage's world, yadda yadda yadda, boohoo, I'm horribly scared. Thing is, he probably fights like a Western mage on a battlefield – all long-distance attacks, lots of juice going into them, flattening the entire countryside, the whole shebang. You know, flying artillery."

"You still haven't gotten to the part where you come out of this alive," Chigusa said crisply.

"Well, he won't be able to fight like that here, in the Old World," Koutarou said, putting down his can of beer. He grinned nastily. "He _can't_. The mortals will start poking around if an entire district of Kyoto is glassed. He can't risk exposing our world."

"Get to the point, damn it," Binder swore, frowning at him.

"If his combat style is based on long-range attacks, then all I have to do is get up close and personal. Bang, job done." Claws jumped out of his fingers, spearing through the metal can like paper. Koutarou lifted his hand, licking the beer running down his arm and grinning. The expression was a feral snarl, showing fangs. "I _like_ fighting up close and personal."

"…Nevertheless, you'll watch the hostages," Chigusa decided after a moment.

"Oh, come on!" Koutarou said, hurling the slashed beer can against the wall and scowling. "Why do I miss out on all the fun stuff!?"

"Because you think more with your balls than your brain," the woman snapped, her eyes flashing angrily. "Fate can keep a cool head around him, and Binder knows better than to get too close to the action." She shot the British mercenary an annoyed glance. "I hope."

"I want to enjoy my pay check at the end of the day, love," the rogue mage retorted acidly. "You don't have to worry about me screwing up."

"And yet you don't have any trouble letting that Tsukoyomi psycho fight," Kouratou grumbled. "How does that work, please?"

"Tsukuyomi may be insane, but she knows her limits. It'd be just like you to just walk up to someone out of your weight class and start a fight without thinking about it."

"Hell, that's what makes it _fun_. The bigger they are—"

"Oh, spare me your claptrap." Binder rolled his eyes and marched around the sofa and over to the apartment's door. He paused, turning around with a hard look in his eyes. "When does the job start?"

"Two weeks," Chigusa answered slowly. "Two weeks until that brat's class trip is scheduled."

"Do you have an itinerary for his class, then?"

"Rough sketches, nothing concrete yet."

"When you have something better, ring me up. I'll do a little scouting, find possible ambush locations. Kidnapping may not exactly be my forte, but I know enough to get by." He reached for the coat hanger, plucking off a cheap brown bowler hat. "Evening, ladies and gents. Don't get yourselves killed while I'm gone. I still need to get paid, don't I?"

The door slammed shut. Chigusa's eyes narrowed at her subordinate's exit, then turned to face Koutarou with a scowl. "You better keep up that killing spree of yours," she said icily. "The more deaths, the more spooked the idiots in the Kansai Branch will be."

"What's the point of killing all these mage folks?" Koutarou snapped, his eyes flashing with annoyance. "They're your people, for spirits' sake! Don't you have anything better for me to do?"

"Stupid dog," she said contemptuously. "Do your job, get paid, and don't ask questions when you're too foolish to understand the answers."

A low growl escaped from the half-demon's mouth, his eyes turning into sharp, golden slits. It was nothing more than a low rumble from the back of his throat, and yet it evoked the primal image of large claws, matted fur, and razor-sharp teeth that humans had nearly forgotten to fear since the days of the wild.

The key word being 'nearly'.

Chigusa took a step back, going bone white as Kotarou slowly got to his feet, uncoiling with the eerie grace of a predator.

"Watch it, bitch," the hanyou said quietly, his hands flexing like an animals's, his lips drawn back in a vicious snarl. "I'm not some little backwater dog you can kick around and expect to beg for scraps a moment later, understand? If you didn't pay me as well as you did, the Kyoto Police Department would be fishing another corpse out of the pond at the Golden Pavilion." He bared his teeth, grinning viciously. "And believe me, this one would be looking far less pretty than the others. Shame, really."

"Shut up," Chigusa snapped, her voice wavering.

"What did you say?" Kotarou said quietly, stepping forward. The light bulb flickered and died, and the shadows in the room rippled around him. Chigusa shrieked and fell backwards.

"That's enough," the grey-haired teenager spoke evenly, his expression never changing. "Leave, Inugami."

Kotarou looked at him in disgust, his head askance. "How did someone like _you_ come to work for such a sorry excuse of a human being?"

"She had something I wanted, and I had something she needed. We made a deal." He looked him dead in the eye, unafraid. But that wasn't the right word, really – uncaring, ambivalent, unconcerned; those fit him far better. "Leave, Inugami."

Kotarou spat out on the floor. "I'll keep to your plan," he said quietly, glaring at a quivering Chigusa with golden eyes that shone brightly in the darkness. "I'll keep killing those poor bastards for you. Once this thing is over, though, I suggest you watch your back at night. There might be something watching you."

And with that he turned on his heel and left, the shadows of the room enveloping him. A moment later, he was gone like nightly fog clearing in the morning. The light flickered back on, returning some semblance of warmth to the dingy apartment.

Chigusa sat up, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She adjusted her glasses slightly, her fingers shaking. _That_ had been unexpected. And very dangerous. It seemed she had underestimated the Hellhound of Kyoto's feral nature. Foolish of her, really. It wouldn't happen again.

"…Are you alright?"

"Fine," she snapped at her only true ally, sighing a moment later. "I'm fine." She paused, thinking frantically about how to manoeuvre herself out of this new problem. "…Do you mind adding another target to your list, Fate?"

The slender teenager looked down at her with blank grey eyes. "No. However, I suggest you remember the terms of our bargain, Chigusa Amagasaki. Woe to those that break their freely given word."

"Yes," she said, nodding and licking dry lips as she looked away from those terrifying eyes. "I understand, Fate Averruncus. You'll get Negi Springfield, as promised."

…

The original manga of_ Mahou Sensei Negima!_ (Magical Teacher Negima!) was written and drawn by _Ken Akamatsu_ and originally published by _Kodansha_ in February 2003. It ended syndication in March 2012 after 38 published volumes. An animation series titled _Negima! Magister Negi Magi_ was released by studio Xebec in January 2005 and ended its run after one season in June 2005. A series of original video animations (OVAs) have also been released. An alternate retelling of the series in form of an anime series titled _Negima?!_ was released by studio _Shaft_, its run beginning in October 2006 and ending after one season in March 2007. Various tie-in manga of the various anime adaptations have also been published.

_The Dresden Files_ is a series of urban fantasy novels written by US author _Jim Butcher_, the first book (titled _Storm Front_) being published in 2000. At the time of writing (February 2013), fourteen novels, a collection of short stories, a pen-and-paper RPG, several graphic novels, and numerous short stories have been published. _The Dresden Files_ was adapted as a television series on the _Sci Fi Channel_ in 2007, being canceled after one season.

_Kinoko Nasu_ (born the 28th of September 1973) is a Japanese author. He is best known for being the author of the visual novels _Fate/Stay Night_ (published in 2004), _Tsukihime_ (Lunar Princess; published in 2000), and the _Kara no Ky__ō__kai_ (The Garden of Sinners, or The Boundary of Emptiness) series of novels (published from 1998 to 1999). Numerous spin-offs such as animated adaptations of his works and various tie-in novels, manga, and video games have been published. His collective creative work is referred to by fans as the _Nasuverse_.

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